The Spokesman of Northern Elders Forum, Hakeem Baba Ahmed said the failure of Buhari’s second tenure has led to growth of respect for NEF by Northern voters who voted for the president against their warning.
Newsonline reports that Hakeem said the Northerners against their warning voted for Buhari in 2019 for a second tenure, but the administration’s failure has made the Northern voters respect NEF.
In an interview with SUN, the NEF spokesman said while the organization will respect the decision of Northern voters to vote for candidates of their choice, he was sure the event of 2019 will help in their efforts to convince voters to vote for the best candidate and not vote based on region and religion.
Speaking of how the NEF will engage and convince Northern voters to vote for the right presidential candidate and not based on ethnicity and religion, Ahmad said, “NEF has many ways of engaging the northern voter, but we respect his right to choose. In 2015, we successfully campaigned for President Buhari. In 2019, we were not successful in convincing the northern voter and other Nigerians not to give President Buhari a second term. We are not happy that our projections over a second term for Buhari were correct, and the northern voter’s respect for NEF has grown.”
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He further told Daily Sun journalist, that NEF “will defend the rights of the northern voter to vote for any candidate he chooses, even if the candidate is from the North.”
“I should remind you that this time last year, loud voices from Southern Nigeria were shouting down even the mere prospect of any political party fielding a Northerner. NEF stood firm behind the rights of all Nigerian to contest for tickets of their parties, and for parties to field which candidate they choose. Today, out of the 18 Presidential candidates, five are from the North. They are not there to make up the numbers. If one of them becomes President, it will not be because northerners alone voted for him. Majority of Nigerians would have preferred him over all others. That is how the constitution prescribes it,” Hakeem said.
He added, “If the next President is from the South, northerners would have voted along with majority of other Nigerians for him. He will be their President too. We have voted Nigerians from the South into office as Presidents in the past. Nigeria’s unity is trifled with when we make it subject to who becomes President by means other than what is prescribed by the constitution.”
Hakeem said what is most needed is a free and fair election that will be transparent which will reflect the will and votes of majority of Nigerians.
“Nigerians who believe that it will strengthen national unity if the President is from a particular part of the country should canvass for his election. What we need is a credible election that should leave no doubt over the winner, and mature and responsible politicians who will accept results of free and fair election. Whoever becomes our next President should be aware of a major task of improving the bonds of national unity, and must prioritize inclusiveness and re-integration as key goals of governance,” he said.
