2023 Presidency: Tinubu has no problem in the north, says Miyetti Allah

 

. Atiku’ll only do single term of four years -Dokpesi

One of the umbrella bodies of herdsmen in Nigeria, the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, says it will be easy for All Progressives Congress presidential hopeful, Bola Tinubu, to win the hearts of northerners in the 2023 election because he is well-accepted in the region.

 

Spokesman for the group, Saleh Alhassan, stated this in a chat with newsmen on Monday.

He, however, noted that his organisation would not endorse any presidential aspirant till after party primaries have been conducted and candidates have emerged.

Alhassan also said as far as the Miyetti Allah is concerned, Nigeria’s next President can emerge from either the Southern or Northern parts of the country.

The Miyetti Allah spokesman stressed that the cattle breeders would only support “a President that would address the challenges facing the herders in this country. A President that won’t implement policies that would be hostile to our business”.

 

When asked whether his organisation would support the presidential ambition of the ex-governor of Lagos State, Alhassan said, “Tinubu has invested politically; if his party deems him fit to fly, we will demand his agenda to address the challenges facing the pastoralists. We will also demand the agenda of other candidates.”

 

“Tinubu does not have a problem in the north, a lot of our elders are with him because he supported (President Muhammadu) Buhari but our organisation’s position, for now, is that we are not endorsing anybody yet for President in 2023 until after the party primaries,” he added.

 

 

 

Similarly, a former Chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association in Jigawa State, Ya’u Haruna, said that Fulani communities were now being enlightened on the 2023 general elections.

“We are also scanning the people showing interest in the presidential seat with Bola Tinubu leading because he was the one that intervened in our matter while he was governor of Lagos and we had crisis in Benue.

“Tinubu came all the way, got us on a round table and reconciled us, so, someone who could do this at that time, we believe can do more when he is at the helms of affairs,” the News Agency of Nigeria quoted Haruna as saying.

With talks about power shift from the north to the south becoming intense, the Northern Elders Forum had warned the 17 Southern Governors to stop “threatening” the north for Presidency in the 2023 elections.

It was  reported that NEF Director of Publicity and Advocacy, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, said the north has the numerical strength and won’t play the “second class position” in the next presidential election.

In another development ,The leader of the technical committee for the Atiku Abubakar presidential campaign, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, has solicited support for a one-term presidency for Atiku Abubakar.

 

He said if Atiku is elected for a single term of four years, it will pave way for the South-East to produce the president in 2027.

 

Dokpesi, who spoke in Umuahia the Abia State capital on Monday, maintained that Atiku, who hails from the North-East Geo-political zone, was the right person to wrestle power from the All Progressive Congress-led Federal Government.

 

He was at the state Secretariat of the People Democratic Party for consultations with the party leaders in the state.

 

Dokpesi revealed that the PDP zoning arrangement was not honoured during the 2015 presidential election. Consequently, the party went into the election with a divided house which it lost.

 

He argued that the PDP has to give the North another chance to complete its fours years in the presidency in order to wrestle power from the APC in 2023.

He assured that the PDP will zone the presidency to the South-East and ensure that the zone produces the president in 2027.

He said, “Our party believes in rotation of the office of president between the North and South for two-term of eight years.

 

“That was why former President Olusegun Obasanjo handed over to Late Umaru Ya’Adua, but after his death, former president Goodluck Jonathan took over and completed his first term.

 

“Jonathan, also ask for another four years which was given to him, but when he started asking for another term in 2015, the North felt it was against the zoning agreement of the party.

 

“So we went into the election with a divided house and we lost. That is why we have reasoned that for us to wrestle power from APC, we need a strong presidential candidate from the North.

 

“Since it is believed that the North-East and South-East are the two geo-political zones that have not produced a president. We felt that Atiku, coming from the North-East, is a strong candidate for the job.”

 

The PDP chairman in the state, Chief Alwell Asiforo, assured the team that the party was open to listening to all those with aspirations who visits the state for consultation.