Special to USAfrica magazine (Houston) and USAfricaonline.com, first Africa-owned, US-based newspaper published on the Internet
Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, international relations specialist and former presidential aspirant has called on the PDP’s flagbearer for the 2023 presidential election Atiku Abubakar to apologise to Nigerians regarding statements by Atiku during an Interactive Session with Arewa Joint Committee held on Saturday October 15, 2022 in Kaduna State. Atiku said “I have traversed the whole of this country, I know the whole of the country, I have built bridges across the country.
“What the average Northerner needs is somebody who’s from the north and also understands that part of the country and has been able to build bridges across the country. This is what the Northerner needs, it doesn’t need a Yoruba or Igbo candidate, I stand before you as a Pan-Nigerian of northern origin.”
Moghalu said Atiku’s statement is a “direct appeal to divisive ethnic sentiment and a denigration of the largest ethnic groups in Southern Nigeria.”
“I was very disappointed to view the video clip of H.E. Atiku Abubakar @atiku , a former Vice-President of Nigeria, telling an audience in Kaduna that what the North needs is a northerner to be President, and not a Yoruba or Igbo candidate.”
“I have a lot of respect for Atiku who, despite his flaws (which all the other leading contenders also have), I have always regarded as a truly cosmopolitan politician in our country. His reference to his ‘building bridges’ across the country does not negate his clear message.
“All candidates in the 2023 presidential election must avoid ethnic or other divisive sentimental appeals,” Moghalu cautioned in his response from his Twitter handle.
