Blueprint
The Arewa Joint Committee has called on the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to clear himself over comments he made during his interaction with the committee last Saturday, where he said, Northerners don’t need Yoruba or Igbo president.
The Arewa Joint Committee made up of six Northern groups – Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Arewa House, Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation, Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Arewa Research and Development Project (ARDP) and Jamiyyar Matan Arewa, told journalists on Tuesday that Atiku should defend himself and clarify his position as they are for all candidates.
Atiku had, while responding to question by the NEF spokesman, Dr. Hakeem Baba Ahmed on why he thinks North should vote for him in 2023, said, “an average Northerner does not need a Yoruba or Igbo president, but a Northern president who is pan Nigeria.”
The comment generated lots of furore from different quarters both from the Southern and Northern parts of the country, with many groups including Ohanaeze Ndigbo demanding apologies from the PDP candidate.
Addressing Journalists on the outcome of their meeting with the various presidential candidates on Tuesday, the Chairman Steering Committee, Malam Murtala Aliyu, said the same question put to Atiku was asked other candidates too, adding that every response expressed by the various candidates is solely their individual opinion and has nothing to do with the fundamental objectives of the joint committee.
“Atiku should clear himself. The same question asked him by the Committee was administered to other presidential candidates too. So we have no business with the opinion expressed by our guests. These interactions in themselves were not planned with the goal of endorsing a candidate. They are part of a longer process that plans to generate commitments to address the challenges of the North by candidates, and which covers a substantial part of the campaigning period.
“We planned to extract and publish these commitments so that Nigerians may measure and evaluate candidates against them. Our goal is to afford citizens an opportunity to match candidates against their commitments on matters that are central to the interests of the North. Until the elections in February 2023, the North will be challenged to raise it’s vigilance over all electoral activities…
