October 17, (THEWILL) – The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi and his running mate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, on Monday met with popular Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi in Kaduna.
Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, was in Kaduna for the Arewa Joint Committee.
He is the first presidential candidate to meet Gumi ahead of the 2023 general election.
The former Anambra State governor posted photos of the meeting on Twitter with the caption, “Dr Datti Baba-Ahmed and I stopped by for a courtesy call on Sheikh Gumi at his official residence in Kaduna.”
Gumi gained popularity with his calls for the Federal Government to negotiate with bandits ravaging the north.
Gumi’s spokesman Tukur Mamu was arrested last month in Egypt and repatriated to Nigeria.
Mamu was in charge of negotiation for the Abuja-Kaduna train hostages.
The Department of State Services said Mamu was brought back to the country “to answer critical questions on ongoing investigations relating to some security matters in parts of the country.”
Mamu had made headlines for his part in the release of the Kaduna train victims who were abducted on March 28. All the abductees have now been released.
Obi, in recent times, has visited northern powerbrokers including the Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero; and the Chairman of Northern Elders Forum, Ango Abdullahi. He also visited former Heads of State, Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar.
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