Election 2023: Arewa group denies endorsing Atiku for president
The Arewa Forum of Conscience distanced itself Tuesday from a rumored endorsement of a presidential candidate for the 2023 elections.
The group, in a statement by its Coordinating Committee Chairman, Musa Salihu Getso, urged the north to be vigilant against the machinations of paid groups presenting self-serving positions as the position of the people of the north.
>He said, "We have watched carefully and with concern the quiet moves of a particular presidential candidate to sponsor a contract endorsement from the North for him.
“We are aware that this decision has led to a meeting convened by the Arewa Consultative Forum, a section of the Northern Elders Forum and other peripheral associations in Kaduna on Saturday 15 October 2022.
"We are also aware that the invitation to candidates from other political parties was just a smokescreen, as all clandestine arrangements were made for the groups to announce the candidate of the People's Democratic Party , Atiku Abubakar, as the only northern consensus candidate.
"We feel compelled to respond to this unhealthy and destabilizing decision by a people so desperate that they care not for the consequences of further general disaffection by exploiting the regional, religious and tribal diversity of the nation.
"Let it be known from the start that it is not in the character of the North to engage in a counter-productive sectoral policy as envisaged by Atiku and his paid groups of people who call themselves elders and rulers of northern Nigeria.
"We, on behalf of the vast majority of the people of the north, call on the Nigerian public to ignore any statement suggesting that any candidate, not least Atiku Abubakar, has been endorsed as the sole candidate from the north.
"We say to the world that such a statement by anyone or any group is not made on behalf of the people of northern Nigeria who are known for their cosmopolitan and pan-Nigerian politics. "
The Arewa Forum of Conscience distanced itself Tuesday from a rumored endorsement of a presidential candidate for the 2023 elections.
The group, in a statement by its Coordinating Committee Chairman, Musa Salihu Getso, urged the north to be vigilant against the machinations of paid groups presenting self-serving positions as the position of the people of the north.
>He said, "We have watched carefully and with concern the quiet moves of a particular presidential candidate to sponsor a contract endorsement from the North for him.
“We are aware that this decision has led to a meeting convened by the Arewa Consultative Forum, a section of the Northern Elders Forum and other peripheral associations in Kaduna on Saturday 15 October 2022.
"We are also aware that the invitation to candidates from other political parties was just a smokescreen, as all clandestine arrangements were made for the groups to announce the candidate of the People's Democratic Party , Atiku Abubakar, as the only northern consensus candidate.
"We feel compelled to respond to this unhealthy and destabilizing decision by a people so desperate that they care not for the consequences of further general disaffection by exploiting the regional, religious and tribal diversity of the nation.
"Let it be known from the start that it is not in the character of the North to engage in a counter-productive sectoral policy as envisaged by Atiku and his paid groups of people who call themselves elders and rulers of northern Nigeria.
"We, on behalf of the vast majority of the people of the north, call on the Nigerian public to ignore any statement suggesting that any candidate, not least Atiku Abubakar, has been endorsed as the sole candidate from the north.
"We say to the world that such a statement by anyone or any group is not made on behalf of the people of northern Nigeria who are known for their cosmopolitan and pan-Nigerian politics. "
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