Electorates have rated and expressed how they feel about the top Presidential Candidates.
NewsOnline understands that with the presidential election just 6 days away and the campaigns winding down, voters in some states have given their assessment of the top contenders for the coveted seat of president and who they plan to vote for on February 25, 2023.
Leading the pack of who will likely get people’s votes on Election Day are Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party; Bola Tinubu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party.
ALSO: I’m Proud Of Obi For Doing What I Could Not Do – Anyim Pius
Those who opened up to LEADERSHIP Sunday also expressed why they believe their preferred candidates are the best option for Nigeria and why they are likely to come out victorious.
This is just as the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has listed five conditions for the presidential candidates campaigning for the votes of Nigerians ahead of this week’s election.
It listed security, which includes dismantling the war-economy it believes some officials are feeding fat on, the economy to address the grinding poverty, infrastructure as well as human capital development and good governance.
Ilorin Residents Speak On Their Preferred Candidates
Some residents of Ilorin, Kwara State have spoken about the presidential candidates of their choice and advanced reasons for their preferences.
Those who spoke with LEADERSHIP Sunday in Ilorin included a public affairs analyst, Malam AbdulLateef Ishowo; a veteran journalist, Elder Wole Adedeji and a community leader in Oro-Ago in Ifelodun local government area of Kwara State.
Elder Wole Adedeji thinks that for now, Tinubu is pulling the crowd and it is growing every day. And if the number of followers remains the determinant factor in any election, then Adedeji believes the APC candidate is close to carrying the day.
He said, “One sad thing however is this, particularly at election time in this part of the world by bringing up the ugly side of a man when he is standing for elections. It is always a case of ‘Hosannah today, crucify him tomorrow.’
“This attitude has not been making it possible for us to get the absolute best from the elections we conduct in Africa and it is worse in Nigeria! I still look forward to seeing all the leading candidates in this election to come up with their cardinal ideological programmes.
“Even one day to the election may not be too late. They need to save us this volume of dirtiness, name calling, digging out the past of their rivals even when before now, they were best of friends; playing all these games at our expense is sad indeed and the clock is ticking away.”
Elder Adedeji said, “They should please call their followers to order. Foreign nationals are in our midst and sadly, they are watching us. Washing our dirty linens in the open is quite bad. So, with the lineup today, I see Tinubu leading, followed by Atiku and Peter Obi in that order. A possible alliance between Obi and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso though, may change the calculations between the duo. God bless Nigeria!”
AbdulLateef Ishowo is of a different mind. His response is, “Atiku of course.” He said, “Why? He has contacts, structure, clouts and a formidable party that can win election; coupled with the fact that the ruling party and its candidate have given Nigerians many reasons to consider other parties but not the ruling.”
And for Mr Steven Oni, he said, “I have personally assessed all the presidential candidates and discovered that we have just three serious contenders. They are Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the PDP and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP).
“However, of the trio, I tip Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the APC, to win the election. The reasons are not far-fetched. Tinubu stands shoulder-high above the other two contestants and even the pretenders among them when you consider his antecedents and pedigrees vis-à-vis Atiku and Obi.
“As former governor of Lagos State, Tinubu acquired himself by laying a solid foundation for the state which other governors after him have been strongly building upon which has made Lagos State the doyen and leading light among the comity of states in Nigeria.
“Besides, Asiwaju Tinubu is a man of the people loved by all across the country. He is not given to ethnicity or religious idiosyncrasies. He is kindhearted and treats all that cross his path with love and respect irrespective of status, religion, tribe or political inclination.
“If he is given the mandate, I assure Nigerians that he will replicate the wonders he did in Lagos state for the good and benefits of the citizenry. Without mincing words, Tinubu remains the candidate to beat in the forthcoming presidential election.”
Borno Voters Divided
For Borno residents, the 2023 presidential election is going to be different from the previous elections that the nation had in the past judging from the calibre of candidates and their consistent campaigns towards the election.
Among the many candidates to the presidential poll, the notable ones on the lips of the electorate in the state are those of the APC, the PDP, the Labour Party (LP) and the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP).
While many are rooting for the presidential candidate of the PDP, Alh Atiku Abubakar, others are rooting for APC’s Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; some others tipped Peter Obi of the LP, with Musa Sani Rabiu Kwankwaso of the NNPP trailing behind.
Speaking with LEADERSHIP Sunday, an indigene of Bama local government area based in Maiduguri, Babakura Goni, said he and his people from Bama are rooting for Nigeria’s former vice president, Atiku Abubakar to win the 2023 presidential race.
He described Atiku as a detribalised Nigerian who has been tested alongside his former boss, former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Goni said the track record of the former vice president is their reason for dumping the APC presidential candidate though he has picked their son, Sen Kashim Shattima as his running mate.
“We are voting for Atiku Abubakar because he will end poverty and end insecurity if given the opportunity to rule,” he said.
Also backing Atiku Abubakar’s candidacy, Mallam Husseini Goni of Dandal Way area of Maiduguri metropolis said in Atiku’s presidency lies the needed reforms required to unite Nigeria and end insurgency, banditry and other criminalities bedeviling the country.
For Ms Esther Dimas, the candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi is the only choice available for Nigeria to return to its glorious days when everything about Nigeria including the currency had value in the comity of nations.
“I and my family will vote for Peter Obi in the upcoming presidential election because he is more competent than other candidates. He is youthful, resourceful and humane in character. We want a leader who is intelligent and competent to lead us, not people who are coming just for the purpose of being in power,” she said.
On his part, Adamu Isa said the other candidates except Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC have nothing to offer the country apart from coming as spoilers,” adding that the track record of the APC presidential candidate which has seen Lagos emerged as one of largest economies in the world, stands the former Lagos governor best among others.
Isa said for the fact that Tinubu picked his running mate, Kashim Shattima who is their son as running mate, Borno has no other choice than to massively give their votes to the APC presidential flag bearer.
As for an elder statesman, Alhaji Ahmed Ashemi, what Nigerians need to do now is to pray for a peaceful 2023 general elections so that whoever emerges will have the blessings and fear of God in governing the country.
It’s a 3-man race In Abia
From all indications, the presidential election appears to be a three-horse race in Abia State among Sen Bola Tinubu of APC, Mr Peter Obi of LP, and Alh Atiku Abubakar of PDP.
A seamstress in Aba, Charity Aham, told LEADERSHIP Sunday that she is optimistic that Obi would win the election because he represents the change Nigerians have been longing for.
“He has mass appeal and has also become a cult figure for the youths across religious and ethnic boundaries. And this is a situation that has never been experienced in the country before,” she said.
A fresh graduate of Electrical Engineering, Mr Emeka Onyebuchi said he is hopeful Obi would win because he has proved that the country can be reengineered under a purposeful leadership.
Joining the pro Obi respondents, Agodichi Ibegbulam maintained that voting for Obi will bring a sense of belonging to Ndigbo as one of the three old regions in the country “after the West and the North have had their shots.”
Insisting that Tinubu will win the election, a retired school principal, Chief Ofor Aguocha said, the former Lagos State governor has over the years proved capacity to lead despite distractions by his opponents.
“I will go for Tinubu because of what the APC has done in the Southeast in infrastructure development. For 16 years, the PDP abandoned the zone even when it was one of its vote baskets,” said another respondent, Mr Aloy Uche.
The transporter explained that because of what the APC is doing “on the once dilapidated Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, Tinubu will have my vote and those of my family members.”
In the same vein, a vegetable dealer at Isigate in Umuahia, Madam Ola Maduka, noted that Tinubu will win because his acceptance cuts across the country especially among states with huge registered voters.
For Mrs Rosemary Nwabisi, Atiku “will be the last man standing because he had paid his dues politically. Furthermore, he appears to understand the challenges of the country more than the other candidates.”
According to the nurse in a private medical facility in Aba, some Nigerians are of the opinion that the country was better managed under the PDP than the APC hence they would go for the former VP.
Sharing her opinion, Mallam Adamu Sanga noted that the Wazirin Adamawa is the most suitable for the job because his tenure will heal most of the political injuries the country has suffered for decades.
Voters In Sokoto Speak
To Yusuf Yabo, there is no better time to ‘change the change,’ as Nigerians go to the polls.
Yabo, a political analyst argued that the present administration under the APC has not only impoverished Nigerians but pauperised the citizenry.
“What has happened to their mouthed fight against corruption? Has corruption abated?
“My expectation is a free and fair poll. Whatever the apprehension is, the election will come and go and Nigeria will move on.
“I expect that Nigerians will not be carried away by the sweet rhetorics from campaigns but decide to vote and change continuation of this administration,” Yabo stated
On the contrary, Prince Tunde Omolehin, a Sokoto-based technocrat appealed to Nigerians to be circumspect in their choice of the next president.
“You should know my position. We are working assiduously to see Bola Ahmed Tinubu emerge as the next president of Nigeria.
“My expectation is for eligible Nigerians to turn up in their large numbers and vote for their preferred candidate without any form of molestation.
“With the introduction of BVAS, I expect a clean, fair and better election without rigging. I believe this would be the expectation of all Nigerians.”
We Want Obi To Win – Enugu Voters
Ahead of the presidential election, some residents of Enugu have declared that they want the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi to emerge victorious.
A resident of Kenyatta Street, Mr Obinna Ekwe said he wants Obi to win because he did well as a governor of Anambra State.
Another resident of Maryland, Agbo Daniels said he wants Obi to win because he has the interest of the masses at heart.
A student of ESUTH, Patience Ogbodo said he wants Obi to win because he is not corrupt, adding that he remains the only former governor that was not arrested for corruption.
She described Obi as the only presidential candidate that has all it takes to transform Nigeria.
NSCIA seeks commitment to dismantle war-economy feeding corrupt officials
The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has listed five conditions the presidential candidates campaigning for the votes of Nigerians must meet to clinch the number one seat of power.
It listed security, which includes dismantling the war-economy it believes some officials are feeding fat on, the economy to address the grinding poverty, infrastructure, human development and governance has its priorities for the next government and also the conditions candidates have to fulfill to get the votes of Muslims.
In a statement signed by the deputy director-general of the council, Prof Salisu Usman-Ugwu and the director of administration, Arc. Zubairu Haruna, NSCIA explained its rationale for wanting a say in the selection of a new president.
The council cited its mandate of protecting the interest of Islam and Muslims in a multi-religious Nigeria, championing the cause of good governance and need for peace, progress and development.
For these reasons, NSCIA “wishes to discharge its responsibility to both the country and its citizens by engaging with the process of leadership recruitment and sharing its views and concerns with its members on the coming general elections,” it said.
The council said the extent to which the presidential candidates will receive the Nigerian Muslims’ support is proportional to their level of willingness to consider those issues important to the NSCIA.
On security, it said for almost one and a half decades, “Nigeria has been traumatised by an unprecedented level of carnage with losses of hundreds of thousands of human lives and millions of displaced people and a kidnapping industry that has caused havoc and pauperised both urban and rural communities.
“This growing and seemingly unending insecurity has crippled agriculture, commerce and education, with all the consequences in its trail.
“The incoming president is expected to make this his top priority and to deploy the highest political will and resources to bring this menace to a quick end. Some of the key lessons to note here include the dismantling of the war-economy from which a few officials are feeding fat, the integrity of commanders, the absence of synergy between the different security services, building local trust for effective intelligence and working with local authorities who would know their terrain better than any outsider.”
The council also said that all is not well with the nation’s economy. So, the incoming government, it said, “is expected to reconstruct our economy and to do so in ways that will address the grinding poverty, joblessness and severe inequities across the populace.
“Here, it is important to emphasise the need to make a paradigm shift from production to processing, because that is how value chains are fixed, jobs provided and prosperity created.
“The shift to processing will create demands for skills and allow the shift from academic degrees to skills which China did to emerge as the strongest economy on the global scene today. The enduring truth about economies is that no country gets rich from revenues; countries get rich only through production.”
And for infrastructure, it said that from 1999 to date, “we have compromised our power sector reform, not because of dearth of ideas but because of the absence of political will and the inordinate greed of government officials.
“We expect the incoming president and his government to end this anomaly. There are experts with the knowledge of the sector who have what it takes to bring back sufficient electricity to power our industries. We expect the incoming government to identify them and work diligently to restore power to this country which has groped in the dark for too long.
The council spoke extensively on human capital development, highlighting issues like the youth population, out of school children and healthcare.
Governance, it said, is about protecting lives and property and providing for the welfare of citizens adding that “the first parameter of evaluation of governments is service delivery.
“The council wants an incoming president who will demonstrate his political will from the quality of people he will appoint and the zero tolerance he will show for corruption.”
It also said that it is important for the incoming president to develop a framework for inclusion which should be both scientific and accountable. This, it believes, will promote trust and national cohesion as well as allow the country to focus on the great task of development.
