A former Sokoto State Governor and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Attahiru Bafarawa, has reacted to a recent claim by the Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai on the All Progressives Congress, APC’s chances in the 2023 polls.
El-Rufai had made the comments in his interview with the BBC, claiming the North was behind Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s candidacy.
Reacting, Bafarawa stated that the comment was an affront to the North and unpleasant for El-Rufai to categorise all as bad eggs.
He then insisted that an individual does not have the power to impose his candidate on other people as everyone had theirs.
The former governor said:
“He was insisting that Tinubu must win the election, whether people like it or not, they have already won. Who told him that the whole of the North is supporting the APC?
“This is just his opinion, in that case, he has no right to insist on the North because everybody has his candidate.
“The way he is campaigning for Tinubu that is how we are campaigning for our candidate.
“We will shock them, we will make them understand that this country belongs to nobody, likewise the North.”
The former governor while quoting El-Rufai who said “(On) the issue of elders; there is nothing like elders, I am also an elder, I will be 63 years this 2023, so who are the elders in the North? We the northern governors are the elders and we are the leaders of the north,” said age does not indicate being responsible.
He added that youngsters who reason well in their youthful exuberance were better than someone who is 100 years if we are to consider age.
He said:
“He is talking about being 63, doesn’t he see that there are still elders left in the North? For us, we see that these comments are lacking in responsibility.
“His comments lack being responsible and respectful, What is expected of him are comments that can lead to the development of the North and the development of the country at large.
“El-Rufai talked about contesting for elections and winning, if this is what he referred to as being responsible, we have contested and won before him.”
