Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate for the All Progressives Congress, criticized Atiku Abubakar, the candidate for the People’s Democratic Party, on Monday for using the ethnicity card in the run-up to the 2023 election.
At an interactive meeting with the Arewa Joint Committee conducted on Monday at the Arewa House in Kaduna, Tinubu stated that he saw himself as a pan-Nigerian who has traveled around the entire nation.
Nevertheless, he added, “How do we reconcile that? You (obviously referring to Atiku) started from Uyo and have ended up in Kaduna and you are saying to the North that you are the appropriate candidate for the North. You are no longer in office.
Further, Tinubu claimed that the PDP presidential candidate should have endorsed him as he had supported him in the 2007 presidential election rather than running against him.
It’s time to get even. Let Atiku support me rather than running for office in Kaduna. In 2007, I backed him,” he continued.
The former Lagos governor acknowledged his membership in the group, which included representatives from the Arewa Consultative Forum, Northern Elders Forum, Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation, Jamiyyar Matan Arewa, the Center for Historical Development Research (Arewa House), and the Arewa Research and Documentation Project.
I belong to you. Yes. I am a Lagosian city kid, he said.
The former National Anthem’s line, “Though tribe and tongue may differ,” was quoted by Tinubu to support his argument that he was not trying to position himself as an ethnic hero like his rival.
He said that his administration will put an end to the ragtag bandits terrorizing the area, adding, “A ragtag bandit will not overcome us. We’ll triumph over them.
Further, Tinubu declared that if elected president, he would mobilize every resource at “our national power” to safeguard Nigeria.
