Former national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Adamu has said that he has no apology for backing a Northern candidate in the 2023 presidential election.
Speaking during an interview with Daily Trust, Adamu stated that he never hid his support for a Northern candidate. When asked about the 2023 election, he said;
“From my consultations, and from the advice I was getting, I am a northerner and I would go for a northerner; and no apologies for that. I have never hidden this.
“The party chairman has a role, but with a ruling party, I could not take it on myself to float Ahmed Lawan’s name. I am curious because everybody put it on you.
“Well, of course, I take responsibility as party chairman, but nobody with maturity in politics and governance will say that Abdullahi Adamu, as the chairman of the party, would just get up and say this is my presidential candidate. It doesn’t add up.”
On the Governor’s revolt that ensued, Adamu said;
“Of course, there were processes. I don’t want to go back on that. What I detested about this whole setting was that people who wanted to win favours with President Ahmed Bola Tinubu continued saying there was cold war between me and him and making so much capital out of it.
“I am an established person from my root, right from birth. I come from a royal family and I am proud of it. I was born at a time when there was a northern Nigeria. I was brought into its values even though I worked mainly in the private sector. I saw myself first and foremost as a northerner in Nigeria and I have no apologies to anybody on this.
“But times are changing, if you want to take a count of people with the same feeling, attitude, commitment and loyalty to the North, you would have a problem. But go down South, especially the South West, and you would see that people are not ashamed of beating their chests and telling you who they are and where they come from and what they stand for. Go to the East, till today, we are losing lives in the East for what they believe in, not here.
“I believe very strongly that they should have done better than they did; but I have no regret. The reason I have no regret is that only what God wills will happen.
“God has made Bola Ahmed Tinubu the president of this country. The moment he won in the convention, I led the National Working Committee to his residence to congratulate him and to give him assurance that we would stand head and shoulders with him to work for the success of the party; and we did.
“No matter what anybody will say about my relationship with Tinubu, the fact remains that it was under my leadership that the APC won the election. I like Tinubu for one thing. When I last saw him after my resignation, he referred to himself as “this bouncing baby boy delivered by you.” And he made my day.”
On why he resigned as APC Chairman, he said;
“Politics is an amalgamation of actions and reactions and you have to find your bearing in them. I felt I had played that part of leadership. I was a minister in this country. I was also a governor and secretary of Board of Trustees of a ruling party. I led this party called the APC to victory and delivered a whole new government to succeed Buhari.
“President Buhari nominated me before the governors and I went to the convention and was elected. I remain ever grateful to him and the Almighty God for ensuring that I succeeded.”