2023: North Has No Anointed Presidential Candidate – Group

Joint Action Front of Civil Society Organisations of Nigeria (JFCSON) has reacted to the announcement by a northern committee purporting that the North has endorsed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar as the sole candidate of the North ahead of the February 25, 2023 presidential election.

The national president of the group, Barnabas Bala Yock in a statement made available to LEADERSHIP Friday, yesterday, in Abuja, said no credible association of concerned northerners or stakeholders was aware of such endorsement or, for that matter, the northern committee that made the announcement.

He said that throughout recorded northern history, the region has never consciously voted in one direction or deliberately adopted a sole candidate.

He described the endorsement claim report as fraudulent, mischievous, unfounded, unwarranted and made in bad taste to contradict the recognised and accepted northern tradition.

He said that it is important to point out that to date, none of the competent representatives of northern groups such as the Arewa Consultative Forum, the Northern Elders Forum and other significant credible youth associations, has announced the endorsement of a sole candidate for the region, preferring to leave it open to individual preferences.

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He said, “Such announcements from unknown entities hiding behind mushroom, obscure and unidentifiable groups should therefore be discountenanced and treated as the frivolities they are.

“It is ridiculous for a group that has never been heard speaking up in the North throughout when it was in the stranglehold of dangerous insurgents, rampaging banditry or against the hardships caused by damaging government policies such as the current currency shortage and other conditions that have made life difficult for the northerners to now claim the right to decide the way the North votes.

“As far as the North is concerned and in accordance with the democratic tradition of its people, the region has not adopted or endorsed any of the candidates.”