What Sultan Of Sokoto Said During Peter Obi’s Visit To Palace, Days After Denying Endorsement

The Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, on Wednesday reiterated that he remains apolitical ahead of the forthcoming election.

Recall that the Sultan in January distanced himself from a message circulating on social media that he had endorsed Peter Obi for president.

Naija News reports that Peter Obi, his running mate, Datti Ahmed, and other party chieftains paid a courtesy visit to the Sultan as they continue to tour the Northern states for their campaign.

Speaking during the meeting, the Sultan said he cancelled his Duste travel condolence trip to receive Peter Obi as he went down memory lane about their relationship.

The revered spiritual leader of Muslims in Nigeria recalled meeting the former governor of Anambra State when he was a young military officer serving in Nsukka and Obi was a student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN).

The Sultan also described Peter Obi as his brother as he expressed sadness over the current happening in the country.

He added that power belongs to God and only He knows who will become the next president of the country.

He said: “I want to personally welcome you to this courtesy visit (and) welcome you to Sokoto for your campaigns and I assure you (that) we are apolitical, we don’t have any political party that we are leaning to.

“We always say power belongs to the Almighty Allah, he gives it to whom he wants and will take from you at the time he wants without even warning. So we don’t play God.

“We believe that the Almighty Allah already knows who will become Nigeria’s next president come May 29, 2023.

“Like Peter Obi said, we have known each other for a very long time. Did he tell you he was a small boy at that time? And like he rightly said, Yes, he used to come to my house in Nsukka when I was a young officer.

“We believe that we must be brothers and when you’re being brotherly with one another, there must be trust, there must be respect. A lot of things have been happening in the country (and) so many of us are so sad.

“December 2016 or 2019, the Enugu State Governor invited me to come home because like Peter said, I started my life in Nsukka, the then Anambra State. Governor Ugwuanyi said I must come back home to reenact those days when we were one big family with different tribes and religions but we were one big family.

“So, that’s what we’ve always been preaching and even now, we are still preaching to people that this one family.

“We might have different ideas, different agendas, and different ways and means of life but we are one big family and there’s nothing we can do about it because God doesn’t make mistakes. He put us together and He knows how to take care of His servants because we are all servants of the Almighty.

“So, we are very free with everybody and that is why we squeezed this time to see you because right now we are supposed to be on our way to Dutse (where) we lost a traditional leader of high repute and a very close family member too. But just stay, let’s still have some time, we will just dash down there.”