The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu and that of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar on Saturday visited the Emir of Zazzau, Malam Ahmed Bamalli to seek royal blessings and pay homage to the emir.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that Tinubu visited the Emir of Zazzau in the company of his host, Gov. Nasir el-Rufai and APC stalwarts after attending the seventh edition of Kaduna Investment Forum.
Tinubu arrived at the palace a few hours after the departure of the Atiku, who is in the State for his campaign and engagement with Arewa Joint Committee.
While apologising for his inability to attend Bamalli’s coronation, Tinubu said he would make the palace his second home, especially when he becomes the next president of the country.
Earlier, host Gov. Nasir el-Rufai said even though it was the first time the APC presidential flagbearer visited the first class traditional ruler, it would be the beginning of many future visits to the palace.
He described Tinubu as a person who has long pedigree and respect for the traditional institution.
He added that part of the respect for traditional institutions made him visit the emir a few hours after his arrival for the seventh edition of Kaduna Investment Forum, insisting on visiting the palace to pay homage to the royal father.
“This is not a visit to start a campaign, it is a visit to consult you and tap from your wisdom and we will come back for a campaign visit, this is just a courtesy call.
“Having visited Kaduna, Asiwaju felt his visit was incomplete without paying homage to you,’’ el-Rufai said.
Responding, Bamalli appealed to politicians to work towards strengthening national unity throughout their electionering for the general elections in 2023.
“In the next few months we will be approaching a difficult period of our coexistence; that is, we are getting into the political arena with a lot of politicking.
“I would like to take this liberty to request you to show maturity and experience as the former governor of Lagos state to play a vital role for a historic election.
“What we need at this point is the security of our country, improved economy and peaceful co-existence; the issue of division of Nigeria should be put aside,” the emir counselled.
Atiku on the other hand was accompanied by the Director-General of the PDP Presidential Campaign, Gov. Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, former governors of Adamawa and Niger States, Messrs Boni Haruna and Babangida Aliyu.
Some serving and former members of the National Assembly, among others, accompanied Atiku on the royal visit.
While in Kaduna state, Atiku is billed to visit Kaduna city and Kafanchan as well as attend an interractive session with presidential candidates organised by the Arewa Joint Committee in Kaduna.
Atiku said the visit to the palace was to pay homage on the first class traditional and seek Bamalli’s blessings on his ambition.
“My visit here is a home coming, but it has been a tradition of our campaign programmes to seek for the blessings, advice and guidance of our royal fathers.
“I’m also here to congratulate and rejoice with you on the conferment of national honour given to you by the president.
“With this visit, we hope to boost and strengthen our campaign activities geared towards national unity and development,” he said.
Earlier, Tambuwal said as the party has commenced its political activities and required blessings from traditional leaders.
“By this, we hope to receive guidance and prayers to enable us succeed in our campaign activities,” said the PDP presidential campaign director-general.
Responding, Bamalli advised politicians to play by the rules of the game and avoid utterance that may jeopardised national unity.