End Of 2023 Race For Atiku? Protest Against Ex-VP Begins In Lagos, Adamawa, Other States

• A lot seems to be working against the presidential ambition of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar
• Unfortunately for the PDP aspirant, one of his campaign groups in 2019, North 4 North Support for Atiku, have called on him to drop his bid for a southeasterner
• The group's members on Monday, February 14, began protests in Lagos, Plateau, Kaduna, and Adamawa to see that Atiku forgoes his ambition

Members of a pro-Atiku Abubakar group, North 4 North, who rallied support for the former vice president during the 2019 general elections have turned against him.

The group on Monday, February 14, mobilised its members to carry out campaigns against Atiku's 2023 presidential aspiration in Lagos, Adamawa, Kaduna, and Plateau, Leadership reports.

The protesters, as reported by Leadership, called on the electorate not to vote for Atiku because they want him to step down for a southeastern presidential aspirant, believing that power should be shifted to the region come 2023.

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2023: Drop your presidential ambition - Southwest group tells Atiku

The coordinator and national secretary of the socio-political organisation, Mohammed Garba, and Abubakar Sanni, in a statement released on Monday, noted that Nigeria needs a vibrant and younger leader to harness its resources for massive growth from 2023.

The duo argued that while Atiku at his age cannot give much in leadership to actualise the collective aspirations of the citizenry, it is only fair for the presidency to be rotated to the southeast for equity and fairness.

They said in the statement seen by The Guardian:

“We must give all parts of Nigeria a chance to become president of the country, or we might slide dangerously into the narratives of divisionists enemies of the state who will have a ready recruitment pool from among disgruntled groups.

“Only one region in Nigeria has not been given a chance to take the presidency of Nigeria and it is only fair that 2023 almost a quarter of a century into our current democratic system the southeast is reminded that they are just as Nigerian as the rest of us.

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No cabal can force leaders on Nigerians: CAN drop another bombshell, sends serious warning to politicians

“Fairness and equity is the major ingredient for the sustainability of any society as history has clearly shown and Nigeria can be no exception to this clear and present rule of nation-building; when a society begins to deviate from the principle of fairness and equity, it declines and slides down the rabbit hole of oblivion..."

2023: Obasanjo, ex-generals reportedly dump Atiku

Meanwhile, Olusegun Obasanjo had been reported to be supporting the calls for the presidency to be shifted to the south come 2023.

Among politicians who were said to be supported by Obasanjo and other ex-generals of the Nigerian Army are Peter Obi and a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Professor Kingsley Mohgalu, and Akinwumi Adesina of the African Development Bank (AfDB).

For the vice presidential office, the former national chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Professor Attahiru Jega, was top on the list.

Source: Legit.ng