The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Construction, Festus Keyamo, has accused former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of deploying determined techniques to undermine President Bola Tinubu’s make stronger in Northern Nigeria forward of the 2027 presidential election.
Keyamo, a Senior Recommend of Nigeria, made the allegation in a observation shared on X on Saturday titled Why Atiku Abubakar Is In particular Jittery About The Kaduna Flag-Off, forward of the All Progressives Congress presidential marketing campaign rally in Kaduna State.
He accused Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, of sponsoring on-line assaults towards the APC and spreading disinformation to create the affect that Tinubu has been rejected by means of electorate within the North.
In step with Keyamo, one of the vital alleged techniques come with positioning cameras at decided on places to document people flattening marketing campaign posters and circulating the photos on-line.
He additionally alleged that false claims in regards to the monetary sources deployed for the Kaduna rally had been being circulated to discredit the President’s make stronger within the area.
Keyamo cited an alleged faux letter claiming that N2.3 trillion have been earmarked for the rally, describing it as a part of an try to painting Tinubu as dealing with well-liked opposition in Northern Nigeria.
“The aim is to generate a hoopla that may create a groundswell of public opinion that President Tinubu has been ‘hugely rejected’ within the North,” he stated.
The minister argued that Atiku’s political calculations for the 2027 election depended closely on securing Northern votes as a result of, consistent with him, the previous vice chairman had restricted possibilities of gaining make stronger within the South.
He stated Atiku was once banking at the North to safe victory, in particular given what he described as the existing sentiment that the South will have to whole 8 years within the presidency.
Keyamo additionally recalled the result of the 2023 presidential election, claiming that Atiku misplaced throughout all North-Central states and Southern states, excluding Osun State.
He alleged that Atiku had prior to now supported Southern presidential applicants he thought to be uncompetitive to divide votes within the area and reinforce his probabilities within the North.
“His authentic projection was once that President Tinubu would no longer compete for votes within the North and could be limited to portions of the South,” Keyamo stated.
On the other hand, the minister argued that the APC’s political buildings in Northern Nigeria had undermined Atiku’s electoral calculations.
He described the previous vice chairman’s projected merit within the area as “dissolving like Andrews Liver Salts in water”, insisting that the President’s make stronger around the North may just frustrate his opponent’s technique.
Keyamo additional argued that despite the fact that Atiku secured victories in some Northern spaces, Tinubu may just nonetheless win the election thru more potent performances within the Heart Belt and Southern Nigeria.
“Atiku Abubakar has noticed that his demographic calculation for the 2027 elections relating to northern votes is dissolving like Andrews Liver Salts in water. Therefore the hotel to those determined techniques,” he stated.
The minister additionally rejected comparisons between Atiku and previous President Muhammadu Buhari, who secured considerable Northern make stronger within the 2015 presidential election.
He argued that Atiku’s political background differed considerably from Buhari’s, alleging that corruption-related considerations would undermine the previous vice chairman’s attraction amongst Northern electorate.
“Atiku Abubakar thinks he’s the Buhari of 2015, who swept the Northern votes. He thinks that was once a show of ethnic make stronger,” Keyamo stated.
He added: “He fails to understand that his corruption-laden previous places him poles with the exception of a Muhammadu Buhari, and that Northerners don’t tolerate such individuals with the putrid scent of corruption.”
Keyamo concluded his observation with a pointy dismissal of Atiku’s political status, pronouncing: “Atiku Abubakar is a butterfly that thinks this can be a fowl.”
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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