We’ve not endorsed any candidate — Arewa

Austine Emmanuel, Kaduna

Arewa Joint Committee has said that they  have not endorsed any candidate for the February 2023 general elections.

The Chairman Steering Committee of the Arewa group, Mallam Murtala Aliyu in a communique signed and made available to Journalists in Kaduna on Tuesday, said the interaction was not aimed at endorsing any candidate.

Recall that the six Presidential candidates of various political parties, except that of the New Nigerian People’s Party, (NNPP) Rabiu Kwankaso were at Arewa House, Kaduna on Saturday and Monday for an interactive session with the joint committee comprising of: Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Arewa House, Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation, the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Arewa Research and Development Project and Jamiyyar Matan Arewa.

The Joint Committee stressed that the interaction was planned with the goal to showcase the candidates in the open so that North and Nigerians can decide who has the best blueprint for the nation and make the best choice of whom to vote for 2023 general elections.

“These interactions in themselves were not planned with the goal of endorsing a candidate. They are part of a longer process that plans to generate commitments to address the challenges of the North by candidates, and which covers a substantial part of the campaigning period.

“We plan to extract and publish these commitments so that Nigerians may measure and evaluate candidates against them. Our goal is to afford citizens an opportunity to match candidates against their commitments to matters that are central to the interests of the North.

“Until the elections in February, 2023 the North will be challenged to raise it’s vigilance over all electoral activities. It is vital that we prioritise evidence of competence, integrity, quality of preparation and commitment to address the challenges of the North among candidates.

“We will continue to invite attention of the government to the security of the electoral process, and in particular the vulnerability of many parts of the North to organised crime which may pose a serious threat to their right to participate in electing the next set of leaders in 2023.

“The need to show restraint and discipline as politicians canvass for our elections has never been more pressing. The entire nation must be open to all contestants and free from violence.

“The exploitation of ethnic and religious fault lines is extremely dangerous, and the nation is already showing signs of stress owing to this exploitation.”