Reject Atiku, Tinubu Now – Ango Abdullahi Begs Nigerians

• Says APC, PDP candidates can’t solve Nigeria’s problems, backs quality leader from the Northern zone

BY SEGUN ADEBAYO – The Chairman of Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Professor Ango Abdullahi has urged Nigerians to reject the candidacies of Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar as both do not have what it takes to fix the challenges bedevilling the country.

He says knowing the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidates too well, their antecedents and track record of services cannot take Nigeria out of the woods if any of them emerges President after 2023 general elections.

For him, Nigerians have options going elsewhere in search of quality leadership since there are 15 other candidates aspiring for the nation’s number one political seat.

However, Abdullahi is not blinking an eyelid in his hopes that a quality leader would emerge from the North to lead the country next year.

The NEF Chairman, who spoke against the backdrop of his encounter with former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Zaria, Kaduna State recently, said Nigeria’s political situation mainly dominated their hearty discussions.

The former Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) said; “The first thing the former president said was ‘are we heading towards a new leadership that will take us out of the huge challenges bedevilling the country?’ Because there were divergent views on whether the nation is on the right track or not.”

According to Abdullahi, both himself and Obasanjo do share the same views regarding the two major presidential flag bearers fall short of the good leadership qualities required to address and fix the challenges bedevilling the nation.

The NEF Chairman said that has been and still remains his personal stance, stressing that the position is borne out of the fact that having been active participants in the nation’s governance structures over the years, both Atiku and Tinubu cannot offer Nigeria and Nigerians anything new from the old order of inept and uninspiring leadership.

On the options available for Nigerians, the Elder statesman said the choice of going for a breadth of fresh air among other presidential candidates is quite attractive in order to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.

The former ABU Vice Chancellor said for the NEF, the Northern region is more concerned about quality leadership irrespective of where it comes from, even as he expressed the hope that having such a quality leader from the North would be heartwarming.