Kwankwaso insisted that the endorsements were based on religious and ethnic sentiments and had no effect on the electorate, who, according to him, were a lot wiser.
The presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso, has said that Nigerian leaders announcing their endorsements of any candidate in the February 25 polls are making a grave mistake.
The former governor of Kano State said Nigerian elder statesmen should stop disgracing themselves, adding that any candidate or political party coming out on ethnicity or religion on the national level had ready failed the election before it started.
SaharaReporters had reported that the former president Olusegun Obasanjo had announced his endorsement of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party for the February 25 presidential election.
It also reported that the leader of the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Chief Edwin Clark, equally endorsed Peter Obi, which had spiked reactions.
But reacting to endorsement of former Anambra State governor, Kwankwaso said, “I want to advise our leaders: they should stop disgracing themselves. We have so much respect for them. If you say you don’t like me, no problem.”
Kwankwaso, who spoke in an interview with journalists in Benin, Edo State capital on Wednesday, insisted that the endorsements were based on religious and ethnic sentiments and had no effect on the electorate, who, according to him, were a lot wiser.
“Some of the people supporting and endorsing Mr A or Mr B, I think it is a big mistake. These are leaders I respect. There is a time in your life when you become real statesman, not a politician.
“I can tell you also that any candidate or party that comes out with the face of ethnicity or the issue of religion, that party, that candidate, I can assure you, has failed that election before it starts.”
