Northern Groups, under the umbrella of Arewa Joint Committee have collaborated to engage presidential candidates on the need to share their plans and visions on how to solve the problems of the North and the country at large.
The Secretary of the Joint Committee and the Managing Director, Sir Ahmadu Memorial Foundation, Dr Abubakar Gambo Umar announced this at a news briefing in Kaduna.
He said the joint committee are Arewa Consultative Forum ACF, Northern Elders Forum, Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation , Jamiyyar Matan Arewa (JMA) and Arewa House (Center for Historical Development and Research among others.
Dr Abubakar Gambo Umar explained that the engagements will start on Saturday, 15th, and conclude on the 17th of October, 2023.
He noted that, the Candidates who will interact with a selected group of leaders and elders from across the North, will be those of the APC, NNPP, PDP, PRP, LP and SDP while other Candidates are likely to be invited at a later date.
Dr Abubakar Gambo Umar expressed gratitude to the Candidates and Parties who have agreed to participate in the engagements.
He Pointed out that, the goals of the engagements are basically to improve the understanding of Presidential Candidates over issues that are central to the interests of the North as the groups are ready to embark on the defining search for good leaders that should emerge in 2023.
According to him, the engagements have become necessary to avoid mistakes of the past when leaders emerged with no popular inputs into their plans and programmes.
Dr Umar however express hoped that the engagements would serve a major goal of affording Candidates an opportunity to share ideas and perspective with a critical segment of the North, submit to the values of accountability and enlist the North in their quest for leadership in 2023.
This according to him, the initiative will be part of a series of steps to improve understanding over which candidate is best prepared to lead the country and address key challenges and aspirations of the North.
“We will follow Candidates as they campaign, and we will encourage citizens and groups to subject them to critical scrutiny. If it becomes necessary to undertake an overall assessment of the candidates and advise voters who will benefit from our opinions, we will do so, strictly on the basis of the interests of the North and the nation. In the mean time, we will provide a level playing field for all candidates”
COV/AMINU DALHATU
