The presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Monday, mocked his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rival, Atiku Abubakar, over the statement credited to him on the 2023 election.
The former Vice President came under criticism for playing the ethnic card during an interactive session with the Arewa Joint Committee on Saturday, in Kaduna State.
Atiku had declared at the forum that an average Northerner needs someone who has built bridges across the country, and not a Yoruba, or Igbo candidate.
He 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.
Tinubu, who part in the interactive session with the Arewa Joint Committee held at the Arewa House, Kaduna, told the PDP candidate to endorse him (Tinubu) in return for the supported he gave him (Atiku) in the 2007 election.
Although the former Lagos State governor did not mention Atiku’s name in the statement, he faulted the ex-Vice President for describing himself as a pan-Nigerian.
He said: “You (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.
“It’s payback time. Let Atiku endorse me instead of campaigning in Kaduna. I supported him in 2007.”
The APC candidate promised to secure Nigeria if elected as president next year.
He added: “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.”