‘I Sympathize With Katsina’- Atiku Mocks Buhari Over Banditry In Home State, Donates N50m To Victims

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, on Tuesday, mocked President Muhammadu Buhari over overwhelming bandit attacks in his home state of Katsina.

Atiku who expressed sympathy over the incessant attacks which have led to the displacement of tens of thousands of people donated N50 million to the victims, promising to protect and resettle them if he is voted into power.

The former Vice President (1999-2007) was at the state in continuation of his presidential campaign rallies.

He made the donation during a visit to the Emir of Katsina, Abdulmumini Kabir Usman.

Atiku, who expressed shock over the suffering of the people said, “I sympathise with the people of Katsina and other northern states that are facing security and economic challenges. I want to assure you that if elected as president of Nigeria, I will end all these challenges.

“On behalf of myself, I donate the sum of N50 million to victims of banditry in the state who have relocated to other places as a result of bandits attacks in their communities.”

Katsina State has been under serious attacks by bandits who have abducted many for ransom. Earlier in the year, the president’s advanced team came under terrorist attacks, leading to the death and injury of a quarter of the advance team members.

The state overwhelmingly voted for Buhari in 2015 with 1.2 million votes and 1.3 million in the 2019 presidential election. The APC is also the ruling party in the state.

10 local government areas were overran by the terrorists, which according to the Head of the Department of Electoral Operation, Husseni Jaafar, of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), will affect the conduct of 2023 polls.

Jaafar said, “We have 242 polling units in 10 security-prone local government areas of Katsina State with 142,261 registered voters. Before, there were 13 local government areas that were under security threat.

“But in an attempt to ensure that all elections are held in all polling units of the state, every month we sit with all the electoral officers of the LGAs after they have consultation with security officers and critical stakeholders in their respective local governments and discuss the prevailing situation.

“As we keep on reviewing the situation based on the reports we received from the electoral officers, presently, we have only 10 local governments that we now confirm have security challenges that we can not hold elections there.”