2019: Why Nigerians should reject Atiku

The Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore Fulani Socio-Cultural Association has urged Nigerians to reject Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at February 16 polls.

The National President of the Association, Bello Bodejo, made the call at a news conference in Abuja on Thursday.

He accused Mr Atiku of trying to destabilise the country using the latest Amnesty International (AI)’s report on the farmer/herders’ conflicts in some parts of the North.

In the AI’s report released in December and entitled, “Harvest of Deaths: Three Years of Bloody Clashes Between Farmers and Herders”, the international organisation said the clashes claimed 3,641 lives in the past three years.

The organisation said the killings were fuelled by the “failure of authorities to investigate communal clashes and bring perpetrators to justice”, an allegation that the Federal Government has dismissed as false.

“Atiku weighed in on the report to attack the President Muhammadu Buhari administration for failing in its duty to protect the lives of its people who have witnessed many preventable deaths.”

Miyetti Allah came down hard on the former vice president, describing his reaction as “a naked dance in the market place”.

“We totally condemn the desperate vituperation of Atiku for lashing on the false Amnesty International report with the hope of garnering political capital from the farmers/herders conflict.

“We call on our members and peace-loving Nigerians not only to condemn him for the naked dance in the market place but to totally reject him as a presidential candidate.

“This is because his intentions are inimical to progress, development and peaceful coexistence of the country.”

The association’s leader said former President Olusegun Obasanjo should be blamed for “hoisting a shadowy character like Atiku as vice president on the nation, and now trying desperately to bring him back as president.”

The PDP candidate, he further alleged, “is surrounding himself with “ethnic irredentists and hate speech merchants that have been profiling the Fulani race and calling for their genocide.”

Mr Bodejo called on Mr Buhari to direct the security agencies to place Mr Atiku under surveillance for his alleged inciting statements against the herders.

“His statement as a presidential candidate is capable of destabilising the country, especially considering that he is currently surrounded by anarchists and hate speech merchants feeding on the lucrative industry of fake news and ethnic irrenditicism.”

The association also condemned AI for releasing a “substantially false” report, which it said was intended to satisfy the organisation’s paymasters and further stoke the conflict.

The national president called on the federal government to closely monitor AI’s activities in the country, especially its sources of funding.