Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina state has described former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as a veteran loser of elections.
Atiku, who is the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2023 elections, has taken several shots at the presidency but lost.
Ironically in 2007, Atiku and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, one of his main opponents in the 2023 race, had teamed up to wrest power from the PDP, but late President Umaru YarÁdua won the election, which Atiku, then Vice President, contested under Action Congress founded by Tinubu.
Atiku’s last attempt at the presidency was in 2019, which he lost to President Muhammadu Buhari.
While featuring as a guest on Journalists Hangout, a TVC current affairs programme, on Wednesday evening, Masari taunted the PDP presidential candidate, saying, “Atiku is a formidable force, but Tinubu is a greater force. Atiku is a veteran of election contests and a veteran loser. He will lose again.”
Masari also dismissed Peter Obi, Presidential Candidate of Labour Party, whom he described as an unknown quantity.
“I don’t know Obi. How many Katsina people know Obi?” Who is better than Tinubu? We are talking of a presidential candidate of Nigeria that cuts through all barriers—tribal, regional and religion, name it.
Asked if Katsina people had bought into the Tinubu project, Governor Masari said, “Tinubu will be next president Insha Allah. Katsina people have bought into it. The people know his role in 2015 when President Buhari was elected into office. They know his role in 2019, when Buhari was re-elected. We people of Katsina are not ingrates.”
Masari said the problems of insecurity affecting some sections of the state would not affect the outcome of the 2023 election.
“APC is still the party to beat. Insecurity is not only a Nigerian problem. Niger is not secure. Mali is not secure, Central Africa is not secure. There is a global insecurity problem,” he said.
