By EZEKIEL OBI, Abuja –
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Abubakar Atiku, will not play to the gallery to score cheap political points for the 2023 Election.
This is according to a statement issued by Atiku’s media adviser, Mr Paul Ibe on Monday in Abuja.
Mr. Ibe was reacting after Atiku was criticised over alleged comments he made over his call for a northern presidency in 2023 as Stakeholders’ Meeting in Kaduna State at the weekend.
He said: “For the benefit of the innocent public who might be hoodwinked, what transpired was a direct question on why Atiku should be voted for by the Northern electorate.
“In answering this question, Atiku started with a joke by addressing the questioner as ‘Mr Northerner’ which is a veiled criticism of why he limited his question to the Northern audience in the first place.
“Continuing, Atiku explained without a slur, that what matters the most to the Northern electorate is a candidate who has built bridges of unity across other parts of the country and not necessarily a Northern candidate who lacks the credentials of national spread and acceptability,” he further explained.
He said Atiku “stood agile and cerebral” before his hosts at the Arewa House.
Earlier, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Mr Debo Ologunagba, in Abuja on Sunday, said the party condemned the attempt to deliberately distort, doctor, misinterpret and take out of context, the comments by Abubakar at the meeting.
The party, however, called Atiku a Pan-Nigerian leader, who is a symbol of national unity, cohesion and tolerance who is comfortable and is loved in all parts of the country.
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