2023: ‘Those doubting Obi/Datti potential living in a fool’s paradise’– Arewa youths slam Atiku

Presidential candidate of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has come under fire from Northern youths, over comments made against the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Peter Obi and his running mate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed ahead of the 2023 General Elections.

The youths, under the aegis of the Coalition of Arewa Youths for Peace and National Development (CAYPND), had, while reacting to comments credited to Atiku during the latter’s live session on Arise TV’s morning programme, last weekend, berated the former Vice President for downplaying Obi’s popularity among northern youths, adding further that the former Anambra State Governor is ‘gaining unprecedented mileage.’

It would be recalled that Atiku when asked to assess the chances of Obi in the coming 2023 General Elections, especially in the North region, ruled out the former Anambra State governor, saying:  “I really don’t expect the Labour Party to take as many votes from the PDP as people are suggesting.

“We could have seen it in the last election in Osun state. What is the performance of the Labour Party?

“This is a party that doesn’t have a governor, doesn’t have members of the national assembly, doesn’t have state assembly members, and politics in this country depends on the structures you have at the various levels — at the local government level, at the state level, and at the national level.

“So, it is very difficult to expect a miracle to happen, simply because Peter Obi is in the Labour Party. After all, they were saying through social media, they had more than one million votes in Osun state,” he said.

“But how many votes turned for the Labour Party? And then again, mark you, you’re talking about social media. In the north, 90 percent of our people are not tuned to social media.”

However, while reacting to Atiku’s comments, CAYPND, in a statement signed by its National President, Alh. Mohammed Gwadabe, said the PDP presidential candidate was ‘uninformed,’ as, according to them, ‘feelers point to the fact that the presidential bid of Obi, is gaining unprecedented mileage.’

According to the group, Atiku ‘with due respect to him, may not be attune with current realities and developments in the polity.’

The group also declared its ‘total support for the presidential bid of Mr. Peter Obi and Ahmed Datti of the Labour Party (LP),’ just as it ‘reminds those doubting their potential to emerge victorious at the 2023 election, that they may be living in a fool’s paradise.’

“Our attention has been drawn to Friday’s appearance of former VP, Alh. Atiku Abubakar, on an Arise TV morning programme, wherein he had made some statements, which we considered uninformed, with the greatest respect to the statesman.

“To start with, the PDP presidential candidate’s submission that the LP has no structure to galvanise winning votes for its presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, flies in the face of prevailing realities.

“As digital youths in the North, we have since opted to join forces with millions of “Obi-dients” across the country, with a view to birthing a New Nigeria, that promises prosperity for all, while creating a society of egalitarianism.

“Again, we make bold to say that, contrary to the misinformation about social media status, the people of the North are prominent on social media and all Internet platforms, and we prefer Peter Obi and Ahmed Datti as the next President and Vice President of Nigeria.

“We will disappoint Atiku and his likes, who deliberately failed to develop the North, just to exploit us for their political advantages in 2023.

“That his insinuation that 90% of Northerners are not on social media, is an insult on the sensibility of the North, and this suggests that we are illiterate, as some of his collaborators want us to remain; objects of exploitation.

“We are now not just on all social media, platforms, but very learned and well-informed, to the Glory of Allah. We are no longer illiterates, like Atiku and some elders in the North want us to remain,” the group said.