Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has urged Nigerians to vote with their conscience and not based on tribe or region in the 2027 general election.
Atiku, a ranking member of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), described tribalism as the bane of national progress and a malignant disease that must be shunned at all costs.
In a statement issued by his media consultant Kola Johnson, Atiku said the elites are most culpable for fostering tribalism as a gimmick to divide citizens in pursuit of political ambition.
He said politicians often ask their tribesmen not to vote for particular candidates “for being so unfortunate to have hailed from another tribe” rather than assess them based on qualities and track record.
His words: “Your exclusive point of focus must necessarily bother on the competence of the person based on his antecedents amongst his numerous qualities rather than what tribe or ethnic group he hailed from.
“In this coming election, I beseech you all as my esteemed fellow compatriots to vote according to your conscience and never ever allow anyone to subject you to the perverted delusion that you must not vote for a particular candidate just because he is Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba.”
He urged Nigerians to cultivate relationships as compatriots in one indivisible nation rather than on the incidental question of tribe..
“If I were to pertain my focus solely on tribe, I would certainly not have been able to marry my Yoruba-born wife, since the 70’s, who beyond my wildest imagination has come to be my jewel of inestimable value,” he added.
Atiku said the first republic remains Nigeria’s golden moment in political history, noting that politicians of that era were more distinguished in integrity and achievements compared to subsequent republics.
“Unfortunately, the venomous cankerworm of tribalism, which dominated the politics of that era proved to be the irresistible force which in its invincibility, devastated that otherwise memorable era and brought it to a grinding halt from which it never recovered till date.
“This is to pinpoint in poignantly clear terms the limitless havoc inherent in the monstrous scourge of tribalism which we must all avoid like a plague.
“Let us all live like one single united family in peace, harmony and mutual co-existence, and build this nation to the visionary dream of our founding fathers,” he stated.