The camps of Alhaji Abubakar Atiku’s rivals for the presidential ticket of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) are not taking kindly to his recent attempt to rubbish their popularity, especially in the north.
Supporters of Mr. Peter Obi and those of Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso declared yesterday that claims by the former vice president that he is the dominant northern vote-getter have no basis in contemporary Nigerian politics.
Former Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi personally responded to Atiku’s claims.
“If Atiku is saying the only qualification he has to become president is that he’s from North. Well and good. That means on the election day, the North should vote for him, and the South shouldn’t,” Amaechi said on Channels Television yesterday.
The former vice president had ,during an interview on Arise Television on Thursday, written off rival Northerners aspiring to be president in 2027.
He said: “Can you tell me among the current leaders in the north who has more votes than I have? We are talking of figures like Tambuwal,Kwankwaso,El-Rufai and the emerging political figures. None of them has gotten more northern bloc votes as much as I have got.”
Of Kwankwaso, he said the former Kano governor “has only Kano votes” adding that even at that, Kwankwaso’s support base is now divided between him and Governor Abba Yusuf.
Atiku visited Kwankwaso in his Abuja residence yesterday in what observers said might be an attempt by the former VP to apologise for the impression his comment may have created.
His dismissal, in the same interview, of former President Goodluck Jonathan as inexperienced also drew flak from different quarters.
Jonathan’s former Special Adviser on Media,Reuben Abati branded Atiku’s statement rude and arrogant.
Nigeria’s ambassador designate to Germany Femi Fani-Kayode shared Abati’s view on Atiku. He called it sheer arrogance.
His dismissal, in the same interview, of former President Goodluck Jonathan as inexperienced also drew flak from different quarters.
Jonathan’s former Special Adviser on Media,Reuben Abati branded Atiku’s statement rude and arrogant.
Nigeria’s ambassador designate to Germany Femi Fani-Kayode shared Abati’s view on Atiku. He called it sheer arrogance.
Speaking on Trust TV yesterday, spokesman for the Kwankwasiyya Movement, Habib Mai-Lemu,said of Atiku:“He has been contesting elections under platforms of well-structured political parties with elite consensus and broad-based support across Nigeria; you cannot actually deduce his votes as purely his own popularity.”
This ,according to Mai-Lemu, contrasted with Kwankwaso’s electoral performance on the platform of NNPP which had no such institutional backing.
Continuing, he said: “When my principal (Kwankwaso) contested under a relatively unknown party without the backing of the elite; he was able to garner around 1.5 million votes.
Wherever he is, irrespective of the political party, he will have this particular applause along with him.
“I want to put it clearly to all Nigerians that it is only Peter Obi and my principal that have organic followers that are not induced; their individual aspirations lie in the belief of their ability and competence to deliver Nigeria.”
He warned members of the ADC coalition against “using words that instead of closing ranks may widen differences.”
The Kwankwasiyya Movement,which is rooting for a joint ticket of Obi and Kwankwaso, dismissed Atiku’s support in the north as largely induced as against the “genuine grassroots followership’ of the former Kano State governor.
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