The South East Coalition For Good Governance, SECG, has fired salvos at former Vice President and Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar following his advice to Northerners ahead of the 2023 presidential election
The group reacted to Atiku’s statement at the weekend where he said northerners should not vote for a Yoruba or Igbo candidate in the 2023 presidential elections.
“What the average Northerner needs is somebody who’s from the North and also understands that part of the country and has been able to build bridges across the country.
“This is what the Northerner needs, it doesn’t need a Yoruba or Igbo candidate, I stand before you as a Pan- Nigerian of northern origin” he said at an event in Kaduna.
Reacting to Atiku’s statement in Enugu on Sunday and signed by its President, Emmanuel Okwu, the group described Atiku “as a thoughtless desperado for power, and an ethnic champion”
“Atiku is not the needed unifier to unite a country in need of a promoter of unity and inclusivity.He has proved his desperation for power by playing the card of division.
“Afraid of his diminishing chances in the forthcoming presidential election in the South because of the soaring popularity of Labour Party, LP Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, Atiku threw in the divisive card to sway the support and votes of the Northerners.
“Fortunately, he forgot that such archaic and out-dated political stunt portrayed him as an ethnic champion, unfit to occupy the office of the President of Nigeria, which is in need of a unifier and an apostle of responsible leadership.
SECG said Atiku has also shown to be unreliable and economical with the truth when he told his party men in Enugu that his ascendancy to the Presidency would guarantee an Igbo President after his tenure.
“Atiku cannot be trusted and it is very clear that he was not sincere when he vowed to back an Igbo for President after his eight years in office.
“Anyway, we have always known that the PDP presidential candidate is underserving of the votes of the South East and the entire South, and his recent utterances confirm our suspicions” part of the statement read