2023: Tambuwal, Bafarawa meet Makarfi, task Buhari on free, fair polls

Ahead of the 2023 general elections, Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto state has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to emulate former President Goodluck Jonathan and conduct a free, fair and credible election as his legacy to Nigerians.

Tambuwal on Thursday led his predecessor, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, former Sokoto state deputy governor and ex-minister, Alhaji Mukhtar Shagari, lawmakers, retired army officers and PDP chieftains from Sokoto state to a clandestine meeting with former People’s Democratic Party (PDP) national caretaker chairman, Senator Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi in Kaduna.

The former Speaker Federal House of Representatives said he was in Kaduna to see Makarfi who had returned from medical trip abroad.

Speaking in an interview with journalists before his departure, Tambuwal said Makarfi has appealed to the members of the opposition party to come together, unite and take over power from the All Progressives Congress (APC) come 2023.

“That is becoming our national anthem, unity unity unity all the way. It’s only when we are united that we can have a very strong force.

“President Muhammadu Buhari, despite all the failures that we are seeing in this administration, the only legacy that is left for him is to ensure he conducts free, fair and credible election same way as President Goodluck Jonathan did ensured and handed over to him in 2015.

“The Head of the electoral umpire, INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu has only one option.That option is to leave a lasting legacy. From my knowledge he is from a very good family background. So, he needs to actually make sure that he did not soil that his family history and his own personal history by ensuring he conduct a free and fair election,” Tambuwal said.

Bafarawa and Shagari however declined comments.

But Makarfi in his remarks, admonished the PDP chieftains, stalwarts and other party members to unite and embrace one another.

The former governor of Kaduna state and one term Senator told his visitors that members’ unity is the main prerequisite for the party’s success.

“If we unite and accommodate each other, we will have cause to smile,” Makarfi said.

Kaduna has become a Makah of sort for PDP chieftains to come and consult on the progress of the party ahead of the 2023 general elections with Rivers state Governor, Nyesom Ezewom Wike, paying a visit to Kaduna on Monday where he met with Makarfi and other PDP chieftains at the party’s former leader’s residence.