The Northern Elders Forum (NEF), has said that northerners will not want another Buhari again in 2023.
Dr. Hakeem
Baba-Ahmed, NEF’s Director, Publicity and Advocacy, said this in an interview
with journalists during a meeting of Northern Leaders of thought on Saturday in
Kaduna.
He said Nigerians,
especially northerners did not bargain for the current economic and security
challenges under the Buhari administration, saying that the North’s support for
Buhari in 2015 and 2019 was a mistake which should not be repeated in 2023.
Baba-Ahmed said,
“Northerners were told that if Buhari becomes president, the country would be
secured, he will fight corruption, the economy will improve, but now we are
worst! This is not fiction.
“This is
not propaganda, it is not fiction, it is a fact on the ground”.
He lamented that there were millions of Internally Displaced Persons Camps
(IDPs) in the north west, where Buhari comes from as a result of deadly
activities of bandits, but the government was refusing to admit it.
“They are
refusing to accommodate this view and consider the fact that we have internally
displaced people.
“This is
not the Nigeria that we voted for President Buhari, so he is a disappointment
and that is why we are calling on Nigerians, particularly, northerners to be
very careful, don’t repeat the same mistake again.
“Choose a
northerner if you want, but please make sure he is the best among those that
are available, including candidates from the South,” the NEF spokesman said.
The Presidential candidates should have a team to work with to be able to
articulate their vision.
“Don’t just
come to us like Buhari did in 2015 and 2019. We want to vote a team. We want a
President who will have a team ready to transit with them to form a government.
“We don’t want a
President that will take six months thinking about who will run his government.
We want to do things differently otherwise the north is doomed and this country
is doomed”, ”, Bana-Ahmed said.
Baba-Ahmed dismissed
calls by some groups that the Presidency should go to the South, describing
such agitations as “command democracy,” saying Nigerians especially Northerners
will vote for the best in 2023.
He said
those saying political parties should not field northern candidates are not
democrats.
“This is
what they will call command democracy. It is a very primitive politics and
retrogressive,” he said, and urged “real politicians”from the Southern part of
the country to enlighten those making such demands.
Speaking
further, he said it was wrong to tell a whole part of the country not to
contest.
“You threatened that any political party that fields a northern candidate
should not be voted for. “There is nothing like that in the constitution. It is
sad that some people will be speaking in this manner. “What we said to them is
that the democratic processes will not be restricted to satisfy them.
“The
constitution says every Nigerian should be free to vote if they are qualified
to vote, every Nigerian should contest if his party fields him or her.
“Nigerians
should decide who they want and that is our position which has remained
consistent.
“These
people making this kind of statements are clearly not intending to contribute
to the quality of our democratic process, they want to destroy the democratic
process.
“A northerner and a southerner have equal rights to contest.
“Northerners
should be very careful in choosing who they vote for.
“That is how we ended up with President Buhari. We don’t want to repeat the
same mistake.
“It is not
enough to be a northerner, you have to be better than other candidates, you
have to be the best for the north and the best for the rest of Nigeria.
“We have a huge
population that is sinking into poverty and desperation in a harsh and
unforgiving world”, he said.
He said,
“Every indicator suggests that things will get considerably worse in the near
future.
“Cost of
living will rise and compound the wretchedness of the poor. Armed criminality
will continue to determine how we live and die, even if it could be defeated at
some future date.
“Our
political process will feed widespread violence as political competition pumps
up every one of our demons to escort individual political ambitions.”
He lamented
further that the North faces two distinct choices: atrophy and destruction, or
recovery and growth.
He said the
the North needs a major shift in its elite selection processes, which will
allow it to put competent, honest and visionary leaders in power at all levels.
Also in his
opening address at the event, the convener of NEF and former Vice Chancellor of
the Ahmadu Bello University, Prof. Ango said the North had always been the
kingmaker in Nigerian politics.
“I heard
somebody boasting some few days ago that he was a kingmaker and now he wants to
be king, well the North has always been the kingmaker politically in Nigeria
and nobody else, it is not a matter of arrogance, that is the reality and it
has not changed” Abdullahi said, apparently referring to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu,
the National leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) who recently
declared his presidential ambition.
Tinubu is touted to be a kingmaker.
Abdullahi
lamented that Nigeria was going through many challenges, saying that the NEF
meeting will proffer practical solutions.
“They
promised things will be different that they will take over the challenges
confronting us, not just in the country, but our region. Things don’t seem to
be getting better, rather things seem to be getting worse…” he said
A
communique issued at the end of the meeting decried the security situation in
the North and urged President Muhammadu Buhari, governors and legislators to
revisit and re-prioritize spending on security as well as address the scourge
of poverty.
The
communique signed by former Vice Chancellor of Plateau State University, Prof.
Doknan Shenni, maintained that the fundamental rights of all political parties
to field candidates of their choices, and the right of voters to freely
exercise choices over who leads them should not be compromised.
The
communique maintained that “Northerners had equal rights to aspire to all
offices but they must raise competence, evidence of personal integrity and
commitments to the rule of law above all other considerations.
The
communique lamented the desperate poor economic condition of most Northerners
poses additional threats to security and the democratic process and urged
leaders to avoid pushing the population into deeper poverty and desperation
amid challenging economic policies and lack of empathy.
It advised
the federal government to postpone the planned 2022 National Census in view of
⁹ large numbers of displaced Nigerians and the proximity of the census to the
2023 elections.
It urged
the national and state assemblies to prioritize constitutional amendments
currently being processed.
It further
called on President Muhammadu Buhari to assent to the proposed amendments to
the Electoral Act, as this will improve the quality of elections, starting from
2023.
The
communique called on key Northern groups to engage their Southern counterparts
to improve understanding, lower tensions and contribute to the creation of an
atmosphere that allows all Nigerian to live in peace with each other;
They noted the ethno-religious diversity in the North, “which is a source of
strength that should be celebrated.”
The
communique said education in the region had never been more imperiled than now
as a result of insecurity and called on the states and federal governments to
protect all schools and rescue all children still in captivity by bandits and
insurgents.