Eight All Progressives Congress, (APC), Christian leaders in the Northern part of the country, led by former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and Prof Doknan Sheni, have dissociated themselves from former secretary to government of the federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, over his public declaration of support for the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi.
The APC northern leaders said Babachir Lawal was expressing a personal choice and not that of the group.
The group, in a statement jointly signed by Simon Achuba, Albert Atiwurcha, Prof Doknan Sheni, Mela A. Nung, Gen Ishaya Bauka (retd.), Prof Ibrahim Haruna and Mrs. Leah Olusiyi last night said the group was yet to endorse any presidential candidate ahead of the 2023 polls.
The statement, which was in a reaction to a story entitled ‘Dogara, Babachir Lawal-led Northern APC Members Endorse Peter Obi,’ reads in part: “We wish to state that necessary consultations have been concluded, and based on manifestly unassailable empirical data, the group is poised to adopt a position which will be made known to the public at an interfaith event to be held very soon.”
According to the statement, no one in the group, including the chairman, Babachir David Lawal, had been mandated to speak to the public about the group’s position at the moment.
It said based on its modus operandi, the group’s position was meant to be presented to the general public at the inter-faith event referred to above.
“Consequently, the decision to endorse a particular candidate and the statement credited to the chairman are solely the decision and views of the chairman which he is absolutely entitled to but not that of the group. We hope this statement clears all the queries most of us have been inundated with on this all-important subject matter.”
Recall that Lawal had stated on a monitored television programme that the group had endorsed the LP presidential candidate, Peter Obi, as its candidate.