The Arewa Joint Committee, which spoke with certain presidential contenders in advance of the 2023 election, stated on Tuesday, October 18, 2022 that the interaction was not intended to support any one candidate.
The Arewa Joint Committee is made up of the Arewa Consultative Forum, Northern Elders Forum, Jamiyyar Matan Arewa, Arewa House (Centre for Historical Development and Research), Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation, and Arewa Research Development Project.
The presidential candidates of the Labour Party, Peter Obi; the Peoples Redemption Party, Kola Abiola; the Social Democratic Party, Adewole Adebayo; the People’s Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar; the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; and the New Nigeria People’s Party, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, were among those invited by the Arewa leaders to the interactive meeting.
Kwankwaso, however, skipped the gathering and claimed that the Arewa Joint Committee had approved their preferred candidate while claiming that he had chosen not to attend.
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The Arewa Joint Committee’s leadership, however, rejected the assertion and insisted that no presidential contender was ever intended to receive support from the exercise.
At a media briefing on Tuesday in Kaduna, Mallam Murtala Aliyu, the Chairman of the Joint Committee and Secretary-General of the Arewa Consultative Forum, stressed that the engagement with the various presidential contenders was not for endorsement.
The activity, according to Aliyu, was a component of a strategy to inspire candidates to make a commitment to tackling the region’s problems.
The chairman of the Arewa Joint Committee said that Atiku was in the greatest position to address his anti-Yoruba and anti-Igbo remarks because he is the PDP presidential candidate.
“These interactions, in themselves, were not planned to endorse a candidate. They are part of a longer process that plans to generate commitments to address the challenges of the North by candidates and that covers a substantial part of the campaigning period.
“We plan to extract and publish these commitments so that Nigerians may measure and evaluate candidates against them. Our goal is to allow citizens to match candidates against their commitments to matters that are central to the interests of the North,” the chairman said.
“Only Atiku could clarify his comments on Igbo and Yoruba presidential candidates. We asked questions to which he responded, so we are not in a position to react to his comments in Arewa House,” he said.
“We are grateful to the candidates who honoured our invitation and who showed respect to public opinion and the Nigerian voters by submitting themselves to the most intimate scrutiny by northern elders and other groups, the media and the public.
“These interactions, the first of their type in the history of our country, have been a tremendous success. First, they demonstrated the strong bonds of unity of the people of the North, represented by the collaborating groups and our unquestioning commitment to the search for the best quality of leadership among the many candidates who want our support.
“Second, they showed a commendable level of respect for the democratic process by the candidates who submitted to the process.
“Third, they afforded Nigerians a rare opportunity to see and hear candidates speak about their plans and vision.
“Four, they helped to focus attention on the peculiar and shared problems and challenges of the North and scrutinise the levels of understanding and sympathy for them among the candidates.
“Finally, they raised the bar in our search for leadership that respects accountability and competence.
“These interactions, in themselves, were not planned to endorse a candidate. They are part of a longer process that plans to generate commitments to address the challenges of the North by candidates and that covers a substantial part of the campaigning period.
“We plan to extract and publish these commitments, so that Nigerians may measure and evaluate candidates against them. Our goal is to allow citizens to match candidates against their commitments to matters that are central to the interests of the North.
“Until the elections in February 2023, the North will be challenged to raise its vigilance over all electoral activities. We must prioritise evidence of competence, integrity, quality of preparation, and commitment to address the challenges of the North among candidates.
