On 18 February 2023, Alhaji Seidu Baba, a member of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), clarified that the forum has not adopted the Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, as a consensus candidate. Baba made the statement at a news conference in Abuja on Saturday, emphasizing that although Atiku has been lobbying to become the sole candidate of the North, the NEF has not endorsed him.
Baba dismissed rumors that the NEF’s 10th anniversary would be used to adopt Atiku as the northern consensus candidate, stating, “Atiku has no credentials to be a sole northern presidential candidate.” He added that attempts to cajole or even force the NEF to adopt him reveal how desperate Atiku is. According to Baba, many people believe that while Kaduna State Governor Malam Nasir El‑Rufai publicly condemned northern elders, his real target was Atiku Abubakar.
Baba argued that Atiku cannot be a northern candidate because he does not know the people of the North, and they do not know him. He suggested that Atiku sensed his rejection, which is why he failed to attend the NEF assembly and did not send any representative. “Atiku has not been seen as someone close to the North; he has not been fair to us. He is a figure whose base lies outside the North,” Baba concluded.
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