September 02, (THEWILL) – The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has said the North will be more critical about who gets support of the people in the region in the 2023 General elections.
Convener of the forum, Prof Ango Abdullahi, made the elders’ position known on Thursday, in Kaduna, during the 2022 public lecture and book presentation, organised by the Centre for Leadership Development and Research/Arewa Youth Alliance for Good Governance in collaboration with NEF.
Abdullahi, who said the North is now wiser and knows who it will vote for if the time comes, emphasised that Northern votes will make an impact on who becomes the next president in 2023.
He said, “The North will participate in all political and electoral activities as equals and with respect to other Nigerians who respect us. The North want leaders who will lead with integrity, competence, compassion and the fear of God.
“We will not support a candidate that fails to convince that he will radically improve the quality of governance and the integrity of leaders.
“We will be more critical than all others, over who wins our support. We bear scars from governance by one we substantially voted into power twice. Northern votes will make a major impact in the 2023 elections as well, but they will be cast to the people who are now wiser and more discerning.
“No candidate should, therefore, take our support for granted, and we state again that we will vote entirely for the candidate that convinces us that he understands our problems and will seek solutions to them with commitment, courage and conviction.
“Secondly, Northerners will not be intimidated into making choices that do not improve the chances of real changes in their current circumstances.
“We have paid a high price in conflicts around religion in the North, and we do not need to do more. Our insecurity and collapsing economy do not discriminate between Christians and Muslims.
“We cannot seek solutions from them as Muslims or Christians. I have to state here that we are witnessing some of the crudest and most unproductive campaigns to create divisions between Hausa and Fulani people, and create distances between Christians and Muslims in the North.”
Specifically, Abdullahi noted that the Northerners will not support candidates who seek to benefit from strategies that seek to deepen and exploit Nigeria’s ethnic or religious diversity.
“I want to use this opportunity to state that the Northern Elders Forum has no candidate in this election as we speak. We plan to engage all willing candidates to discuss their plans and ideas and we have our own yardstick for assessing candidates.
“The North wants what all Nigerians want, which are leaders who will lead with integrity, competence, compassion and the fear of God. Our hope is that all Nigerians will share our vision of a country that overcomes its current fears, challenges and limitations and embarks on a journey of rediscovery.
“Northerners will not be intimidated into making choices that do not improve the chances of real changes in their current circumstances.
“We will participate in all political and electoral activities as equals, and with respect to other Nigerians who respect us.
“In the north, we consider attempts to create divisions and conflicts around religion as hostile acts. We have paid a high price in conflicts around religion in the North, and we do not need to do more.
“Our insecurity and collapsing economy do not discriminate between Christians and Muslims. We cannot seek solutions from them as Muslims or Christians. I have to state here that we are witnessing some of the crudest and unproductive campaigns to create divisions between Hausa and Fulani people, and create distances between Christians and Muslims in the North.
“We warn that these contemptible attempts will fail, because they find no support in history going back into centuries, or in the recent past. While we differ in faith and ethnicity, history, geography and our experiences in living as Nigerians have created roots and bonds that cannot be destroyed by desperate political gambits”
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