Atiku asked to stand down after saying Nigeria does need Igbo or Yoruba presidential candidate

FORMER vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has been called upon by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to pull out of Nigeria's presidential race after his comments dismissing Igbo and Yoruba candidates which have been described as ethnic baiting.

Late last month, the PDP elected Alhaji Abubakar as its flagbearer for next year's presidential election at its annual convention in Abuja. He has since picked Delta State governor Ifeanyi Okowa as his running mate but his candidacy is causing all sorts of problems as it breaches the gentleman's agreement that Nigeria's presidency should rotate between the northern and southern halves of the country.

Nigeria's presidency traditionally rotates between the north and south of the country and with both President Muhammadu Buhari and Alhaji Abubakar coming from the north of the country, it had been expected that the former vice president would sit out the 2023 contest. Since he has chosen to stand, Alhaji Abubakar had faced stiff opposition within his party and it appears that feeling the heat, he lashed out at his opponents yesterday.

While responding to a question posed to him by Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, the spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum, Alhaji Abubakar said Nigeria does not need candidates from the south during the 2023 elections. He added that northerners need to vote for him rather than a Yoruba or Igbo candidate because he is a Pan-Nigerian candidate of northern extraction.

Alhaji Abubakar said: , “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.”

In a swift response, Festus Keyamo, the spokesman for the APC presidential campaign council, called on Alhaji Abubakar to quit the race. He accused Atiku of playing the ethnic card ahead of the 2023 presidential election and bringing ethnic bias into his campaign.

Mr Keyamo, the minister of state for labour and employment, said: “This is the height of desperation and daredevilry on the part of Atiku.  This is so horrendous, so horrible and so thoughtless for Atiku Abubakar to use ethnicity to campaign, saying the north does not need a Yoruba or Igbo candidate?  My God, Atiku needs to quit the race today.

“Some of his hirelings have brought out their hammers and nails to try to panel-beat this clear and obvious statement, instead of taking the route of honour to apologise to Nigerians or step down honourably from the race. No repackaging or panel-beating will repair this damage.”