By KHADIJAT LAWAL

Some Pro Atiku groups, under the auspices of Coalition of Concerned Groups on Power Shift to the South and the Need for Younger Candidates to Emerge Come 2023, have advised the former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, not to contest for the presidency in the 2023 election.

They declared that they have decided unanimously to seek a power shift to the South.

The groups made their stand known in an address singed by their leaders; National President, Middle Belt Network For Atiku, Luka Pam, and Secretary-General, Middle Belt Network For Atiku, Madaki Yakubu; National Coordinator, amongst others during a press conference held in Abuja.

“We are in a position to present an unbiased representation of the pulse and mood of the nation.

“Today, in the face of ongoing insurgencies and separatist movements feeding various sentiments that have left the average Nigerian with low morale and uncertainty over the future of the country, it is only fair that there is a power shift to the southern region.

“We make a clear and undiluted call on former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to give second thoughts to his desire to contest for the office of president in the elections again in 2023.”

The groups also disclosed that; “it is also undeniable that at 77 years of age going into this race, it will be a mismatch of national priorities to support his quest, taking into consideration the unique interplay of circumstances currently confronting our country.”

The groups further noted that; “Nigeria needs a young and more energetic unifier, who will be able to handle the rigours of being physically present in crises spots to make the physical and psychological statement of government being in charge and committed to finding lasting solutions to our national challenges.

“Having been around for decades and served at different levels, up to the highest levels of government as a very influential vice president, we believe Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has done his tour of duty in the front row of national affairs.”

They advised Atiku to take a back seat and play the role of elder statesman, the billings of which he has lived up to.

Abandoned party structure

The groups further disclosed how the former Vice President abandoned the party structure of the PDP and his support groups post 2019 elections, adding that it is “a clear betrayal of the trust reposed in him as an encapsulation of the sum of their legitimate aspirations and hopes for Nigeria.

“We are equally not blind to the optics of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s preferred public association with members of the topmost echelons of the Nigerian elite, showing he has lost touch with the reality of the suffering masses of Nigeria, who are bitten by the current bugs of the economy and the potential drifting of the political ship of state.

“As a professed lover of the east of Nigeria, having even gone as far as taking a wife from that region, we urge Alhaji Atiku to substitute his personal ambition with overt support for a candidate of eastern extraction.

“The time is now if we must save Nigeria, for a younger candidate to take the saddle and take back our country from a particular set of Nigerians who are in their late seventies and eighties.

“The time is now for new thinking to guide Nigeria in the direction that is befitting of 21st-century society, as the giant of Africa and Africa’s largest economy, to play a leadership role in African affairs and in the comity of nations as a whole.

“Our members, in their numbers across the country, are on standby in the various political parties and consulting from outside of the parties to ensure that southeastern presidency is achieved in 2023.

“This demand of ours is not an attempt to malign the character of any individual, but a patriotic call based on the mood and need of the nation at this critical moment in the life of Nigeria.” (Daily Trust)

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