Dogara Lists Steps Taken In Choosing Atiku As Northern Christian Leaders’ Preferred Presidential Candidate

Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has explained the steps taken in choosing the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, as the consensus candidate of the Northern Christian Leaders for the 2023 general election.

In an interview with reporters, Dogara said the journey of choosing Atiku as the consensus candidate began with the opposition of the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket fielded by the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The former speaker said Christians from the 19 Northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) who were of the APC later formed a group known as APC Christian Leaders.

Dogara revealed that the group later embarked on a wider consultation and reached out to some Muslim politicians to jointly search for a pan-Nigerian presidential ticket to adopt and push across the finish line to better serve Nigerians’ collective interests for peace, unity, progress, and development of the country.

He said a technical committee of both Christian and Muslim leaders in the north recommended that the forum should adopt Atiku/Okowa ticket as the Pan-Nigeria platform

He said: “There was no way we could support the position of the APC and as such, we came up with a communique that addressed the need for us to do a wider consultation and to reach out to our Muslim brothers and sisters for us to jointly search for a pan-Nigerian platform to adopt and push across the finish line in order to better serve our collective interests as Nigerians for peace, unity, progress and development of this our great country.

“No sooner had we concluded that exercise than we proceeded to hold an inter-faith summit which took place at the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) Conference Centre, Kado.

“The major highlight of that meeting was that we resolved to form a technical committee of both Christian and Muslim leaders in the north to help articulate and craft a position for us taking into consideration only political parties that had inclusive tickets.

“This of course is in line with our stated vision and passion to push for an inclusive society and obviate the risks associated with our politics polarizing along religious lines.­

“The Committee consisted of eminent personalities Chaired by the Rt Hon Mohammed Umara Kumalia with Barr Mela Nunge, SAN serving as the Secretary. The committee did an excellent job which was later fine -tuned and adopted by the larger house for presentation to the public.

“So, the committee recommended that the forum should adopt Atiku/Okowa ticket as the Pan – Nigeria platform. The report as adopted has been presented and it speaks for itself. It is, res ipsa loquitur, as we say in law.

“To me, in summary, the report is the only reason why we gathered at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre on December 2, 2022 where it was presented to us. We also received inputs from religious leaders; Christian /Islamic clerics as well as women and youth groups who were well represented before we took a common position on the way forward.

“In our choice of Atiku/Okowa ticket, we did a lot of analysis. We do not want to waste votes and destroy destinies. Our votes are our God given talents which we cannot waste without attracting dire consequences. Anyone who knowingly wastes his/her votes has earned the name, ‘wicked and slothful servant’”.