By David Lawani
One of the spokespersons of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo, has said the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) led by Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed does not possess the power and street acceptance to determine votes that will decide the winner of the 2023 presidential election.
Keyamo, who was responding to questions when he appeared on Channels Television Politics Today, noted that it is only those who have street acceptance that can determine votes.
He maintained that even though the Northern Elders Forum did not support and canvass votes for President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019, the then APC presidential candidate was able to defeat his strongest rival, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that the group supported massively.
He said, ”Hakeem Baba Ahmed, of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) perfect gentlemen, we love them and I have enormous respect for Hakeem Baba Ahmed. He is somebody I want to be like. However, I just want to make a statement of fact that they don’t represent the North. They don’t speak for the North.
“Despite their campaign against President Buhari in 2019. Buhari won resoundingly and Atiku lost. He didn’t even get 10 percent of votes in certain parts of the country. It is just to show that they are elders but they don’t control the north. Well, we are talking about the people who control the streets up the North.”
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Responding, Hakeem Baba Ahmed stated that said if Bola Ahmed Tinubu believes he can win the presidential election without the support of the North, then good luck to him.
“If he thinks we don’t represent the North, it means that Tinubu believes that he can win the North without the support of the group, there is no long story about it. We are also conversing with other candidates. He is welcome.
“If, this is the kind of attitude APC will have, concerning the North, it means we will have to use our attitude towards President Buhari as a failure. If this is the way they want to go, I am sorry, they go nowhere.
“And this is the kind of attitude, we will use in the election. It is a very wrong one. If they want to adopt it, fine. I know other candidates recognise the fact that the Northern Elders Forum and other groups are well recognised in the North.
“And they will respond to us. Festus Keyamo cannot stop Tinubu from being engaged with us. And if he does, that says a lot about Tinubu,” he noted.
