Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) says Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) should endorse him instead of running for president.
Tinubu said this on Monday, October 17, 2022, at an interactive session with the Arewa Joint Committee which was held at the Arewa House, Kaduna state.
Tinubu tackles Atiku: Throwing a jab at Atiku following his recent ethnocentric comment, the presidential candidate of the ruling party said he sees himself as a pan-Nigerian.
He said: “You (referring to Atiku) started from Uyo and now ended up in Kaduna and you are speaking to the North that you are the right candidate for the North; how do we reconcile that? You have lost the election.”
Tinubu further said instead of competing with him, Atiku ought to endorse his presidential bid having supported him in 2007.
“It’s payback time. Let Atiku endorse me instead of campaigning in Kaduna. I supported him in 2007,” he said.
Tinubu told the gathering which comprised the Arewa Consultative Forum, Northern Elders Forum, Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation, Jamiyyar Matan Arewa, the Center for Historical Development Research (Arewa House) as well as the Arewa Research and Documentation Project, that he’s one of them.
On banditry: Tinubu promised that his government would defeat the rag-tag bandits terrorising the northern region,
“As you are aware, security is a function of resources. I am committed to mobilising all assets within our national power to secure Nigeria.
“We did this in Lagos through many initiatives, especially the Security Trust Fund, through which we addressed many needs of our security forces which helped to sanitise Lagos State.
“As you may recall, when I assumed office as governor in 1999, the situation I met was basically a case of banditry where urban gangs ruled the streets.
“I returned law and order, tamed what could have been a huge ethnic war and made Lagos one of the safest states in Nigeria. I will replicate that across the country,” he said.
He also said under his leadership, the Nigerian military would receive a much-needed injection of trained personnel to strengthen the heroic efforts of the troops that are currently in service.
