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By: Taoheed Adegbite
A former minister of state for FCT and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State, Chief Jumoke Akinjide has described the support enjoyed in the northern part of the country by the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as that of the governors in his party alone.
According to her, the electorate in the North will vote for Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the PDP instead.
Akinjide, in an interview with Sunday Tribune, underscored the chances of the PDP’s Atiku Abubakar in the forthcoming election and the possibility of the Northern electorate seeing Tinubu as a benefactor.
“I don’t think so. The North-East, for example, is solidly behind their candidate because they have never had the presidency. And if El-Rufai thinks that the North owes Tinubu, I think the North-West also feels it owes the North-East because every president has come from the North-West, whether it is Shehu Shagari or Umar Yar’Adua or even Buhari.
“I think the people in the North are supporting Atiku. The governors may be supporting Tinubu. At the end of the day, it is the people’s will that will prevail,” she said.
Speaking further, the former minister, while referencing a former Sokoto State Governor, said the northern governors have not the influence to dictate the trajectory of the poll in the North but the elders and religious.
She said, “A former governor of Sokoto State, Attahiru Bafarawa, answered this question when El-Rufai was boasting about Northern governors supporting Tinubu. He said the election will tell whether the North has leaders or not, that the North that he knows, it is the elders and the religious and community leaders and intellectual leaders that influence the people in the North and not the governors who are by-products of the leaders.
“So, I think we are going to see who is right. But I suspect it is the people and the true leaders and not the people in the political party that will determine where the votes will go.”
Continuing, Akinjide described the PDP presidential candidate as the rightful product put forth by the region, adding that Atiku is a democrat.
“And, honestly, I feel the North has thrown up the best candidate in Atiku in terms of experience, demonstrated commitment to democracy. Atiku left government in 2007 and he has been vying for office of the presidency and has not held the reins of power in Adamawa and has not been deciding who will be governor in Adamawa. He has not dipped his hand in the financial pocket of Adamawa.
“As a democrat, he has left Adamawa to run its finances, unlike the APC candidate who has held Lagos by the jugular for the past 23 years, directly as governor and indirectly as the political leader and the finances of Lagos have been in his control. We don’t want people who will not let Nigeria and Nigerians to exercise their freedom. We don’t want remote control over our people anymore. Atiku is a democrat in the finest sense of the word,” the ex-minister added.
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