‘Atiku should blame himself for his electoral misfortune’ – APC condemns ex VP’s statement
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has condemned a statement made by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar over the weekend.
While speaking in an interactive session of the Arewa townhall policy dialogue in Kaduna, the former vice-president said northerners need a president who hails from the north, not someone from an Igbo or Yoruba extraction.
In a statement by the Director, Media and Publicity of APC presidential campaign council, Bayo Onanuga, it noted that Atiku’s declaration to the effect that Northerners don’t need a Yoruba or Igbo president was the worst expression of ethnocentric opportunism ever uttered by a former Nigerian Vice President.
“It confirms the argument that Atiku has feasted on such base, cheap, primordial sentiments to use the masses and the elite of the North as the ladder to ascend to power since 1989 without any dividends to show.
“Doubling down in his now infamous speech, Atiku said: ‘What the average Northerner needs is somebody who is 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 North needs. It doesn’t need a Yoruba or Igbo candidate. I stand before you as a Pan-Nigerian of Northern origin.’
“In clear terms, Atiku who stole the PDP ticket, by a similar mindset, has cast himself as a Northern candidate, who should solely be supported by the people from his region.”
He noted that Atiku’s public declaration which framed him as an ethnic and regional champion is unbecoming of a man who was once the Vice-President of Nigeria.
“He has himself, not anybody else, to blame for his expected electoral misfortune. First, he broke the fundamental rules of power rotation in his party and the country.
“As if this cardinal sin was not enough, the PDP candidate has remained defiant in the face of pressure by preserving the two topmost posts in his party for people from his region.
“The Nigerian public now knows better that a man, who has been campaigning as a so-called unifier of our disparate groups, is a tribal jingoist, who has now totally eviscerated all pretensions to being a detribalised Nigerian,” he added.
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