- Northern groups endorse Osinbajo
A former House of Representatives member, Abdurrahman Kawu Sumaila, has described as enemies of the APC those promoting the candidature of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Kawu, who also served as the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on National Assembly (House) 2015-2019, said Jonathan had played his role and should be left alone, noting that APC has candidates with better credentials from the southern part of the country.
“I don’t think those pushing for Jonathan to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari under our great party wish the APC well. Yes, Jonathan is a reformed democrat who deserves our commendation.
“But he had played his own role under the PDP. Nobody will take away the credit of conceding defeat as a sitting president and handing over power to the opposition peacefully from Jonathan. As a matter of fact, he is better than some of the people in our party.
“However, we cannot as a party say Jonathan should come and pick our presidential ticket when we have better candidates in our midst. That will mean we have failed,” he said.
Meanwhile, three northern groups yesterday said any attempt for northern Nigeria not to support power shift to the South West in 2023 could divide the region irreparably and potentially sever its political alignment especially with states in the North Central.
In a communiqué issued after a ‘Joint Conference on Northern Political Participation and Power Shift’ at the Arewa House in Kaduna, the Arewa Consensus Assembly in collaboration with the Joint Participation for Development Initiative and National Partnership Campaign Project’, they said a more probable electorally acceptable ticket will be a Christian southwestern candidate matched with a Muslim vice from the North.
The communiqué, which was signed by Engr. Daniel Shawulu of Arewa Consensus Assembly, Suleman Makama of National Partnership campaign project and Khalid Mohammed of Joint Participation for Development Initiatives, aligned their position towards the candidacy of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo saying he addresses the questions of balance and has the qualities and attributes expressed and resolved by the joint conference.
