Some prominent members of aggrieved Northern Christian Leaders in the All Progressives Congress (APC) have said they are yet to endorse a presidential candidate in the 2023 general election.
The group distanced itself from the statement credited to their chairman and former secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), Engr. Babachir David Lawal, which states that they had endorsed the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, in protest against the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the APC.
This clarification is coming barely a few hours after the statement by Lawal where he noted that members of his group within the APC had opted for Peter Obi because of their opposition to same faith ticket and LP’s potential of winning the 2023 presidential election.
The views of the other 8 members of the group, led by former speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, were contained in a statement jointly signed by them and issued on Thursday, where they said after all due diligence, they had taken a position already and had agreed at a particular time and occasion to reveal the position.
The group, which also includes a former deputy governor of Kogi State, Simon Achuba, said Babachir Lawal’s position was his personal opinion and does not represent the stance of the group.
Not mandated to convey group’s decision: The group also said that no one among the members of the group, including Engr. Babachir, had been mandated to speak to the public about their position at this material time.
- The statement from the group reads, “We want to draw the attention of the general public to the recent position canvassed by our chairman, Engr B D Lawal as the position of our Group. We wish to state that necessary consultations have been concluded, and based on manifestly unassailable empirical data, the group is poised to adopt a position, which will be made known to the public at an interfaith event to be held very soon.
- “Suffice it to say that no one in the group, including the chairman, has been mandated to speak to the public about our position at this material time. Based on our modus operandi, our position was meant to be presented to the general public at the event above referred to. That has not changed.
- “Consequently, the decision to endorse a particular candidate and the statement credited to the chairman are solely the decision and views of the chairman, which he is absolutely entitled to but not that of the group. We hope this statement clears all the queries most of us have been inundated with on this all-important subject matter.”
Other members of the group include Hon. Albert Atiwurcha, Prof Doknan Sheni, Mela A. Nunge, SAN, Gen Ishaya Bauka (rtd), Prof Ibrahim Haruna, and Mrs Leah Olusiyi.
For catchup: Recall that earlier on Thursday, Babachir Lawal, in a signed statement, declared that members of his group and their supporters will back the Obi/Datti presidential ticket for the 2023 election.
- Lawal in the statement claimed that the group came to the decision of supporting the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi and his running mate Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed after a painstaking review and analysis of the alternative tickets.
- He described the APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket as satanic and said it is a deliberate and well-calculated plan to sow a seed of religious discord among Nigerians, with Northerners as their intended target.
