Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has
declined an invitation to attend a programme organised for presidential
candidates by the Arewa joint committee.
Abdulmumini Kofa, spokesman of the NNPP presidential
campaign, in a letter dated October 14, said the decision was hinged on alleged
plans by the committee to endorse “a particular northern candidate”.
The committee, comprising the Arewa Consultative Forum
(ACF), Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Sir Ahmadu Bello Foundation (ABF), Arewa
Research and Development Project, and Jamiyyar Matan Arewa had invited some
presidential candidates for an interactive session in Kaduna.
The programme, which started on Saturday, was attended by
Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kola Abiola of
the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), and Adewale Adeboye of the Social
Democratic Party (SDP).
Bola Tinubu, candidate of the All Progressives Congress
(APC), Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), and the NNPP candidate, are expected
to be in Kaduna on Monday for the event.
However, in a letter addressed to the organisers, the NNPP
said besides the fact that the date given was not convenient, it had credible
information that the event had been compromised.
The party warned the organisers of the programme that
endorsing a candidate from the region “will only result in further polarizing
than uniting the north”.
“We have credible information in our possession that shows
that some people have been compromised and these people have concluded plans to
turn the event into an endorsement platform for a particular candidate,” the
letter reads.
“We believe that it is very wrong for any group to
clandestinely plan to endorse any candidate in the name of the North,
especially when we have more than one candidate from our region.
“We are therefore advising you not to do anything that will
ridicule the legacies of Sir Ahmadu Bello and other famous Northern Leaders
like of Sir Tafawa Balewa, Malam Aminu Kano, Sir Kashim Ibrahim, and JS Tarka,
etc. by attempting to endorse an unpopular candidate at the expense of a more
competent, more experienced and more credible one.
“We note that the earlier date was even postponed and a new
date was fixed to coincide with the date of the rally of one of the
presidential candidates in Kaduna.
“This further gives credence to the information in our
possession that the event is being financed by that candidate.
“In the circumstance, and based on the above observations,
our candidate will be unable to honour your invitation.”
Reacting to the allegation, Murtala Aliyu, secretary general
of ACF, said the claims are baseless.
Aliyu, who is the chairman of the steering committee of the
programme, challenged the NNPP to produce evidence to corroborate the
allegation.
“We received their letter.
First of all, he said he is not participating in the dialogue because it
coincided with other engagements,” Aliyu said.
“We are not calling them to endorse any candidate. I think
that accusations like this are a bit weighty.
“I have not seen any
candidate one on one. I have not received any donations from any candidate one
on one or collectively or formally or informally.
“I was taken aback when I saw it. The six groups (that made
up the Joint Arewa Committee) pooled resources together to organise the
programme.
“So, if anybody has
given anything, I am not aware of it and it has not come to my notice. Our
groups are multi partisan; some people are in LP; some are in PDP, APC, NNPP,
and so on. So, you can’t endorse any candidate.”
Aliyu added that even if a candidate donates to the event,
it will not influence anything.
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