Give Atiku Deserved Respect, Northern Youth Group Charge Gov Bala Mohammed

By Ayodele Oni

A Northern Youth Group has berated Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State for underrating former vice president, Atiku Abubakar and asking him to step down from Presidential contest.

The spokesman of the Group, Bello Yakassai, in a statement in Bauchi, pointed out that in education, politics and business, the Governor is incomparable with Atiku.

The Northern Youth Alliance (NYA), one of the socio-cultural youth groups in Northern Nigeria, pointed out that the Governor, who is one of the PDP Presidential Aspirants in the 2023 general elections, had asked the former Vice President to step down for him.

‘During a TV programme, Governor Bala Mohammed was also quoted to have said that he is more qualified and more prepared for the office of President of Nigeria than Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

“While we do not want to join issues with Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, since the contest is a family affair, it is however important to put certain things in proper perspective, especially on the issues of qualification and preparedness.

“It is a well-known fact that Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the Wazirin Adamawa, cannot be compared to Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State,  because the former Vice President has attained so much in life, both in education and experience.

“The former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has friends across the country with a broad knowledge and understanding of Nigeria’s multi-ethnic/cultural diversity.

“He is a unifier, he is competent and more qualified than other aspirants in the PDP and those in the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“These and many more are great accomplishments of Vice President, Atiku Abubakar.

“Kauran Bauchi, if politics were not a leveller would you have ever been able to sit in the same room with Waziri?

“We all believed that you are a humble emerging star in the North East, but your show of shame on this programme seriously dented your reputation or was it that your usual stuff you take for courage that was acting in you?

“We, therefore, call on the Governor of Bauchi State, Senator Abdulkadir Bala Moahmmed to rather step down and support Vice President Atiku Abubakar as President of Nigeria in 2023.

“As the Presidential Candidate of the PDP in 2019, the former Vice President has the right of first refusal and should be accorded that right by party members and supporters nationwide, including Governor Bala Mohammed and other Presidential Aspirants on the platform of the party.”