The former lawmaker representing Kaduna Central senatorial district, Shehu Sani, has advised the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinub, not to trust the northerners ahead of the 2023 general elections.
Sani while speaking in Osogbo, Osun State capital on Sunday, said most of the politicians in the north are hypocrites who will betray his presidential ambition.
He urged the former governor of Lagos State to look for someone he trusts to always translate what they say in Hausa whenever he visits the region.
The former lawmaker added that the elites in the region do not support the presidential ambition of Tinubu in 2023.
Sani charged the APC leader to learn from the ordeals of the late Moshood Kashimawo Abiola who, despite his support and achievement in the North, was betrayed by northerners.
He noted that what the northerners elite will tell Tinubu in the English language is not what they say in Hausa.
He called on Tinubu to restrategise on how to gain support in the North, saying the common people in the North do not support him to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari.
He said: “Well, the person of Asiwaju is the one I know in the field of struggle. He was one of those in the struggle for the restoration of democracy and also a leading figure in the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) while I was part of the fight for democracy. We worked together for MKO’s project and for the resistance against the annulment.”
“I know him personally. But what I tweeted is more of a Biblical/Shakespearian allegory or whatever one can use in sending a message to someone and what I am trying to say is that as he is allegedly moving towards contesting for the presidency, he should try to know the actual feeling on the ground as far as the North is concerned because I know what Abiola went through.”
“Abiola served the North more than any other businessman from the western part of Nigeria. He printed the Quran and shared it with many Muslims. He donated houses and empowered people; he supported academics and religious clerics. Abiola was one of those passionate about the unity of Nigeria because of the solidarity between the South-West and the northern part of Nigeria. But how did he end up? They (northerners) conspired against him and sabotaged him and at the end of the day, he was gone.”
When asked whether he will support Tinubu when he finally makes his intention known in contesting the 2023 presidential election, the former lawmaker said: “If my People’s Redemption Party (PRP) adopts him, I will support him.”