No candidate will get 70% of northern votes – Yakassai

Ahead of the February 25 presidential election, elder statesman, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, has said no candidate will get 70% of northern votes.

Yakassai, in an interview with The Punch, said there might be a catastrophe if the forthcoming elections were rigged.

He said, “My belief is that if the election is conducted freely and fairly, nothing will stop (Asiwaju Bola Ahmed) Tinubu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, from winning the election but I see some bigwigs expressing disapproval of his ambition. Some of them are within the APC and some are in opposition parties. My belief is that such people, if they find it difficult to win the election, may resort to malpractices, which may include rigging. That is why I made the warning just to alert the nation to this possibility that everybody should get prepared to prevent anybody thinking of taking over power through rigging or military coup. It is just a note of warning to the nation or a wake-up call.

“I didn’t need assurance from INEC. What I know is that they are doing their best. There is a saying in Hausa, mai son abun ka yafi ka dabara. What they mean is that a man who is interested in taking your food away from you should be cleverer.”

On the G-5 governors in the People’s Democratic Party, the elder statesman said, “I am not in any political party and since I am not in the same political party with them, it will be very difficult for me to make any predictions.

“I said it a long time ago that Tinubu came to my house with his clear interest and told me that I am one of the people he thought would bring about his desires, intention and interest to contest the 2023 presidential election. He appealed for my support and I gave him the assurance of my support and I am still on it. I met governors in support of his candidature and ambition.

“Till today nobody who is interested in the presidency other than Tinubu has approached me for support. Maybe they know me well enough that I won’t change my mind. That was why they gave up. No single person approached me for support and I have made up my mind that I will support Tinubu till the end of the election.

“I don’t see any candidate taking maybe 70 per cent of the total northern votes in this election. I know many of the votes will be shared and at worst equally between the candidates.”