January 20, (THEWILL) – The Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, has denied reports that he warned northerners against voting the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and endorsing his counterpart in the Labour Party, Peter Obi, for the February 25 presidential election.
The Sultan, in a statement issued by his media aide, Bashir Adefaka, disowned a purported statement quoting him as saying: “Hold me responsible if Peter Obi doesn’t perform well, the problem of the North is from the north, not Peter Obi or an Igbo man, it will be worst and more deadly for the North if Tinubu wins, if they tell you an Igbo man is the problem of Nigeria, tell them Igbo man never rule Nigeria before and north is world poverty capital.”
Reaffirming his neutrality as a traditional ruler, the statement said, “Sultan of Sokoto is – strictly speaking – a traditional ruler and leader of Muslims of Africa’s most populous country. Moreso, as a retired Army General, his discipline, commitment, and unalloyed to Nigeria is non-negotiable.
“Between Wednesday and Thursday, the Sultan played host to several figures including the outgoing and new General Officers Commanding (GOCs), Eighth Division Nigerian Army, Sokoto, Major Generals O. Bassey and Godwin Mutkut respectively, Vice Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Kashim Shettima, among others.
“The Sultan will continue to play his role as a multifaceted leader and father of all and his doors will remain open to all aspirants across all parties and other meaningful people from across the country.
“More important to Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar at this time and always are security, peace and unity of Nigeria, especially as the nation is fast moving into its long-planned and heavily invested general elections.
“He will continue to support all efforts that will lead to success of the election process. So, let any incoherent claims of naysayers be ignored. Sultan is not a politician”, the statement added.
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