A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, Joe Igbokwe, warned on Wednesday that the candidacy of Atiku Abubakar, presidential flagbearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2023 election, implies that “a sharp knife” has been put on things that have held Nigerians together since the country’s independence on October 1, 1960.

According to Igbokwe, the Special Adviser for Drainage and Water Resources to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Nigeria’s next president must come from the South, given that the current leader, Muhammadu Buhari, is from the North.

“Those who continue to encourage Atiku Abubakar to run in the 2023 election are constantly slicing everything that has held us together as a nation for 62 years.” “Power will be zoned to the South in 2023,” Igbokwe stated on his well-known Facebook page.

Atiku’s fifth presidential bid will take place on February 25, 2023. The 75-year-old has previously run unsuccessfully for the seat under both the APC and his current party, the PDP. The Adamawa-born politician also got the PDP ticket in 2019, but lost the general election to the incumbent, President Buhari of the APC.

The former vice president will compete against Bola Tinubu (APC), Peter Obi (Labour Party), Rabiu Kwankwaso (New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP), Professor Christopher Imumolen (Accord Party), and Omoyele Sowore (African Action Congress, AAC).