Chief of Staff to the Director General, APC Presidential Campaign Council, Yakubu Dati has said that the disagreement between former Secretary to the Government of the e Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal and former Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, which prompted them endorsing Labour Party and Peoples Democratic Party Presidential (PDP candidates respectively, has confirmed their self-serving interests in spite of their earlier stance to be fighting for the interest of northern Christians.
Dati claimed their claim to be fighting for Christians was only a hoax, alleging the concerns of the two political leaders were not about the collective interest of northern Christians, but a sour grape that neither of them was picked as running mate to Bola Tinubu.
He said that with the latest development coming from their camps, the chicken is finally home to roost with the duo, who claimed to be working in the interest of northern Christians going their separate ways by pursuing self serving interests.
“Few weeks ago, the former SFG, claiming to be working in the collective interest of the Forum of Christian and Muslim Political Leaders from the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), announced that the group is throwing its weight behind the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi.
“Few days after he made that declaration however, his co-traveller, Dogara issued a statement saying Babachir spoke only for himself and not for the group and promised that the group would issue a statement indicating its collective interest not long after that.
“On Friday, Dogara lived up to his promise and came out with what he wants us to believe is the true position of the Forum saying they have adopted the presidential candidate of the PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as consensus candidate for the 2023 election. At this stage, it is pertinent to ask who between the two truly represents the forum and whose interests they’re representing.
“This is what I had tried to warn the general public especially northern Christians about as early as September when I advised that we should be wary of the duo as at the end, what would play out is the self interest. What is happening now has vindicated my position that their disagreements with the Tinubu/Shettima ticket has nothing to do with principle but purely a result of personal interests.
“As it is, the APC has remained the only party all out to serve the collective interest of Nigerians regardless of ethnicity or religion. This is why as the other parties and groups hostile to the APC ticket seem to be lacerated and thrown into confusion by the minute, the Tinubu/Shettima ticket is waxing stronger by the day…What more can one add other than to advise northern Christians to take a cue from what is happening to the Babachir/Dogara group to realise that the duo are not out to serve their interests but to negotiate deals for themselves,” he said.