Nothing wrong with Atiku’s comment in Kaduna – APC chieftain

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Minister for Works, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe has said contrary to popular believe, he sees nothing wrong with what the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar said in Kaduna last Saturday.

Atiku Abubakar, stuck his foot in his mouth on Saturday when he declared in Kaduna that the North should shun southern candidates in next year’s presidential election.

Atiku said this at an interactive session with a group of northern political leaders under the Arewa Joint Committee at Arewa House, Kaduna.

Asked by the spokesperson of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, why Northerners should vote for him, the PDP presidential candidate replied at the event, “What the average Northerner needs is somebody who’s from the north and also understands that part of the country and has been able to build bridges across the country.

“This is what the Northerner needs, it doesn’t need a Yoruba or Igbo candidate, I stand before you as a pan-Nigerian of northern origin.”

The remark, captured in a video recording that has since gone viral on social media.

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However, appearing on Arise TV’s The Morning Show monitored by National Daily on Tuesday, Ogunlewe said he saw nothing wrong with the statement by the former Vice President.

“It is a political statement uttered by Atiku in his base. I don’t see what the noise is all about. The ‘Emi lokan” which has also become viral was uttered by my party’s candidate, Bola Tinubu. It is the same political statement aimed at gathering his base- Southwest, on his side.

When asked why his party issued a release attacking Atiku over the comment, Ogunlewe responded that it was politics in action.

“All the parties are just trying to capitalize on their opponents’ weaknesses, or error to beef up their own popularity among the electorates. We shouldn’t split opinions over such comments. It is politics in action,” he added.