The 2023 presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dumebi Kachikwu, has stated that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is not interested in a southern presidency in 2027.
According to him, Atiku wants everybody, including those in the newly launched coalition, to believe he is the only one who is fit to be the party’s presidential candidate.
Specifically, Kachikwu submitted that Atiku doesn’t believe in a southern presidency and is using some charlatans to deceive the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, into believing that only he, Atiku, has what it takes to win an election because he can garner the majority of the North’s votes.
The former ADC presidential candidate, however, submitted that if Atiku truly has good intentions, he must support the presidency to remain in the south for the next six years.
He, however, said that because of his selfish ambitions, Atiku would not support a southern candidate.
The former ADC presidential candidate stated that his party is not for sale and cannot be taken over by Atiku and other coalition members, adding that Nigeria needs fresh politicians with new ideas that can move the country forward.
Naijaonpoint reports Kachikwu made the submissions during a press briefing on Thursday.
He said, “This fake coalition are staging events in different parts of the country where they pay poor Nigerians to say they are decamping from other parties to the ADC. This is the typical strategy mesh of these old politicians, and we have had enough of it. They need to sing a new song.
“Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, a man whose antecedents clearly show he doesn’t believe anyone from the southern part of Nigeria is deserving of being president of Nigeria, orchestrated this charade for his personal benefit. He almost truncated President Obasanjo’s return for a second term because he believed the seat was his. President Jonathan suffered the same fate, and then after eight years of late President Buhari as president, the same Atiku believed it was morally right for him to be the presidential flag bearer of the PDP in the last presidential elections.
“This was most unjust and unfair and led to the current disintegration of that party. He is now using some charlatans to deceive former governor Peter Obi that only he, Atiku, has what it takes to win an election because he can get the majority of the North to vote for him.
“This is most uncharitable of him. If the former vice president says my assertions are not true and that all he wants is a better Nigeria, I then challenge him today to publicly declare that equity demands that the presidency should stay in the South for another six years.
“He can then support any southern candidate of his choice. He will never do this, but if he chooses to continue on this slippery slope, I want to reiterate that the ADC is not for sale and is not an old people’s home.
We are a party that believes Nigeria needs fresh faces, fresh ideals and fresh ideas. This current political war is the war of the old for the old; it is not our fight.
“In the ADC, Nigeria and Nigerians will always remain our objective.”