By Chris Paul Otaigbe
Sheik Dr. Ahmad Gumi who has been in the news for some years now, as a Sympathizer of the Bandits in Northern Nigeria, broke another controversy recently. This time, he was widely reported as throwing his weight behind Peter Obi, the Labor Party Presidential candidate.
However, contrary to the widely publicized position, Gumi says, he was quoted out of context. He says, he is not supporting the Labor Party candidate alone. For him, he believes any one of the four front runners will do far better than this outgoing government to place the country on the good path. He spoke with the Africa Broadcast News Network (ABNN) in a zoom interview with Chris Paul Otaigbe.
“ I believe there is a misconception in what I said. What I am saying is that all the four contestants have my backing; not only Peter Obi. Why I am backing them is that anyone of them is qualified to be the president of Nigeria.; and we would have a stable Nigeria. Anyone of them can do the job.” Says Gumi.
According to him, the front Runners are largely friends and not enemies. “ Take Peter Obi, for instance; Atiku brought in 2019 as his Vice President; and when you say somebody is your Vice President, it means you are saying, that person can be in your shoes. So, Atiku has no problem with Peter. Tinubu once brought Atiku to be the presidential candidate of ACN; which means they are friends; and he has no ill feeling about him. Kwankwaso is one of the founding fathers of PDP and also a founding father of the APC; and now he has joined another party…” Gumi says.
For him, each of them has the capacity to administer the country to move away from the rot the Mohammadu Buhari administration has put Nigeria today; adding that he has interacted with all of them individually and found them fit for the job of president. “ Why? Because, they listen. Any leader who listens to advise and respects people’s views, I believe can do well for Nigeria.” Gumi maintains.
The cleric would like a situation where, whoever wins among the four top contenders, others would rally around him to assist in repairing the country; saying; “ Let them all come together and put their hands on the deck; because Nigeria is too big for one person.”
According to him, the different agitations across the country have their peculiarities; which make the country too complex and complicated for one man to run as president. “ Agitation in Zamfara is different from agitation in Imo or Anambra. So, we need all of them; because they are all leaders with large following; and you cannot run a government; ignoring their relevance in the affairs of the country.” He says.
