Northern leaders under the aegis of Arewa Joint Committee have refuted reports suggesting that it was planning to endorse one of the presidential candidates for the 2023 general election, specifically, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) had in boycotting the Kaduna event of the Arewa Joint Committee, alleged that the Northern leaders have perfected plans to endorse one of the Presidential candidates who participated in the interactive session at Arewa House in Kaduna.
The Arewa Joint Committee is made up of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation (SABMF), Jamiyyar Matan Arewa (JMA), Arewa House (Center for Historical Development and Research) and Arewa Research Development Project (ARDP).
But chairman of the Arewa steering committee event, Mallam Murtala Aliyu, told journalists in Kaduna on Tuesday that the interaction was not aimed at endorsing any candidate but to provide an opportunity for them to showcase their political blueprint and their plans for the Northern region when elected President.
He said six of the Presidential candidates, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC, Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso of the NNPP, Kola Abiola of the PRP, Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Prince Adebayo Adewale of the SDP were invited, adding that all except presidential candidate of the NNPP honoured the invitation.
The chairman stressed that the interactive session was planned with the goal to showcase the candidates in the open so that the North and Nigerians can decide who has the best blueprint for the nation and make the best choice of who to vote for in 2023.
He stated: “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 plan 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 to matters that are central to the interests of the North.
“Until the elections in February, 2023 the North will be challenged to raise its vigilance over all electoral activities. It is vital that we prioritise evidence of competence, integrity, quality of preparation and commitment to address the challenges of the North among candidates.
“We will continue to invite attention of the government to the security of the electoral process, and in particular the vulnerability of many parts of the North to organised crime which may pose a serious threat to their right to participate in electing the next sect of leaders in 2023.
“The need to show restraint and discipline as politicians canvass for our elections has never been more pressing. The entire Nation must be open to all contestants and free from violence.
“The exploitation of ethnic and religious fault lines is extremely dangerous, and the nation is already showing signs of stress owing to this exploitation,” he stressed.