Nigerians slam Atiku over choice of northern presidential candidate

Scores of Nigerians have berated the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, for saying northerners need a president who hails from the North.

The former Vice President, while speaking at the interactive session of the Arewa townhall policy dialogue in Kaduna on Saturday, said the northerners don’t need an Igbo or Yoruba as president in 2023 but “someone from the north”.

Atiku, who hails from Adamawa State in the North-East, stated that he has been to every state in the country, noting that he understands the states’ peculiarities and diversities.

The PDP presidential candidate said the northerners should trust him with their votes, adding that he is the most qualified to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.

He said: “I have traversed the whole of this country. I know the whole of this country. I have built bridges across this country. I think what the average northerner needs is somebody who is from the north, and who also understands the other parts of Nigeria and who has been able to build bridges across the rest of the country.

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“This is what the northerner needs. He (northerner) doesn’t need a Yoruba candidate, or an Igbo candidate. This is what the northerner needs. I stand before you as a pan-Nigerian of northern origin,” Atiku stated.

The former Vice President’s statement, however, elicited reactions from Nigerians with many lashing out at him.

Below are some of the reactions on Twitter:

The Star