Spokesman for the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed has given a hint that the vote from the North is not for the highest bidder nor will it be based on ethno-religious consideration but on ability to fix the country.
WHAT WE KNOW
On Sunday night in a popular TV programme, the spokesman for the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed said, the North will only vote for those who can fix the nation, as the forum will subject presidential candidates to a rigorous interrogation before endorsing any of them.
Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed regretted the mistake the group made in 2015 when it asked the people of the North to give a bloc vote to incumbent President Mohammad Buhari without asking for his blueprint.
On ethnicity and region, the spokesman for the NEF said that primordial sentiments will not be a consideration this time in deciding who to support in 2023.
Baba-Ahmed also said that his group represents the north and they will not put a ceiling on any of the presidential candidates. He said they are open to considering any of them that has the requisite mental and physical capacity to deliver on the job.
The NEF spokesman, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed further explained why the Northern Elders Forum supported Abubakar Atiku in 2019, but now appear to be having a rethink about his candidature.
He said they supported Atiku in 2019 because as at then he was the only option. As regards voting APC again, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed said that it will depend on how convincing their candidate Bola Tinubu is, but they will take into consideration the mental and physical capacity of the candidates.
NOTABLE QUOTES
The NEF spokesman Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed said at the interview:
“We will subject all candidates including Atiku, Tinubu, Obi through a rigorous process and they had better be willing because, believe me, we carry the responsibility on our shoulders to advise people in the north where to go. I am not saying this to impress anybody. We will exercise that responsibility seriously.
“What we promise not to do this time around was not to repeat what we did in 2015 and say ‘Vote for only Sai Baba” where we escort him to the villa but failed to sit him down and ask what he planned to do. It would no longer be about fixing the economy, security and the fight against Boko Haram, They must be specific.
“Buhari got away with it in 2015 and in 2019, we campaigned against him, saying this time he has failed and won’t be given another chance. Today, look at where the country is. We are not going to make that mistake again.”
“At this stage, our options are open. We will not vote on a narrow prism like where (candidates) come from. I speak for the elders’ forum. There was no point we said only northern candidates will be considered. We don’t see the north in isolation. We see ourselves as related to other parts of Nigeria.
“I don’t know what the other parts of the country are doing but the North is not just going to vote for any candidate unless we are convinced that he has done some serious thinking about what he is going to do for this country.
“But we need to know the presidential candidate’s mental health, physical, intellect capacity and his willingness to tap into some of the brightest brains available and his sensitivity to a number of key issues that are vital to our survival as a country,”
“If Tinubu is able to convince us about his genuine intention to the North, We will, in turn, tell the people Tinubu is the best candidate, vote for him.
“The truth is that we campaigned against Buhari and told northerners not to vote for him in 2019. That’s because Buhari didn’t do well in his first term. We supported Atiku because it was the only option available then.”
BACKGROUND
Recall that in 2015, majority of the people in Northern Nigeria led by the Northern Elders Forum, Arewa Consultative forum and other Northern group canvassed for a Northern President because they believed power should return to the North.
Surprisingly, even members of the then ruling PDP, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, now PDP presidential candidate, conspired against the party to ensure Buhari and his APC won.
However, in 2019 the same Northern Elders Forum turned out to campaign against President Buhari`s second term bid, describing him as a complete failure in office.
COMMENTARY
I guess it has become clear that hunger, insecurity and bad governance may not necessarily choose it’s victims according to regions, ethno-religious sentiment and even economic divide.
The troubles of bad leadership is a plague to infect everybody within and across all the political constituencies, including that of the leader who is dishing out poor performance in governance.
This government of President Muhammadu Buhari has at least proven this fact to all. In his abysmal performance in governance, he has dished to the North more than their fair share of insecurity, economic hardship etc.
Yeah though he had in his naivety thought he could only plague those he referred to as 5% while his “97%” will live in Eldorado, but that was not to be, his unpalatable governance style is more than enough to go round the country, while the juice, if any is just for a few.
It is a good thing that lessons seem to have been learnt by the north, especially as the nation prepares for the 2023 General election.
We only hope that these lessons lead to wise voting decisions at the polls, not just for 2023 but also far and beyond 2023. I hope the electorates have awoken from their age long slumber.
