FORMER Lagos State governor and All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has asked his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) opponent Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to stand down for him as he backed him in 2007.
In February next year, Nigeria goes to the polls to elect a new president, with the ruling APC fielding Asiwaju Tinubu as its candidate and the PDP going for former vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
Former Anambra State governor Peter Obi is the Labour Party candidate and ex Kano State governor Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso is the flagbearer of the New Nigeria Peoples Party.
With these four front runners all launching their campaigns nationwide, Asiwaju Tinubu has asked Alhaji Abubakar to stand down for him because he backed the former vice president in 2007. Speaking at an interactive session with some leaders of the Arewa Joint Committee yesterday, Asiwaju Tinubu asked Atiku to reciprocate the gesture he accorded him when he contested for the presidency as the Action Congress of Nigeria candidate in 2007.
Asiwaju Tinubu said: “I was one of the youngest strategists with Shehu Musa Yar’adua. I started here in the north. Atiku met me with Yar’adua after he left Nigeria Customs at the time and he met me strategizing for Yar’adua.
"I’m standing before you saying this, even my greatest rival met me with Yar’Adua. I supported Atiku Abubakar in 2007 then,. so don’t blame me if I ask for a payback period. It’s payback. Let him endorse me now instead of him conducting rallies around Kaduna while I’m talking to you people here.
“They asked him questions like how did you make money and he said from selling cars. Can you as a civil servant be involved with other trades and businesses? You have attracted disqualification and you don’t deserve to compete with others."
According to Asiwaju Tinubu, he dropped his presidential ambition and endorsed Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in 2007. Yesterday, the Arewa Joint Committee, made up of the Arewa Consultative Forum, Northern Elders Forum, Sir Ahmadu Bello Foundation, Arewa Research and Development Project and Jamiyyar Matan Arewa, had invited some presidential candidates for an interactive session in Kaduna.
This meeting, according to organisers, was part of a wider interaction with selected presidential candidates to discuss their plans for northern Nigeria ahead of the 2023 general elections. All of the leading candidates have participated in the session which began on Saturday.
