Northern Elders Regret Not Supporting Jonathan In 2015

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, News Across Nigeria Thursday, September 23rd, 2021

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The Northern Elders Forum on Wednesday said it regretted backing then candidate Muhammadu Buhari in the 2015 presidential election, instead of the then incumbent Goodluck Jonathan.

It claimed that Buhari had, since succeeding Jonathan, let down a majority of Nigerians who trusted in his leadership before the 2015 polls.

NEF’s Director of Publicity and Advocacy, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, said the forum wants the country’s next president to be one who would act in the “opposite direction” of the incumbent.

Baba-Ahmed, whose group called for Buhari’s resignation in December 2020, stated this on Arise TV’s ‘The Morning Show’ breakfast programme .

He said: “Is there any Nigerian who is not disappointed in President Buhari including diehard APC (All Progressives Congress) people? Is there anybody who would not tell you he wished President Buhari had done much better?

“We raised huge expectations, we told people, ‘Get rid of Jonathan, put Buhari there, he would fix corruption, he would fix insecurity, he would fix the economy’, (but) look at where we are now.”

“How can anybody say they are happy with the record of President Buhari? Even the people very close to him would tell you that they wished he could have done much better and he hasn’t.

“So, what we need to do now is to get ready to elect another President who would go in the opposite direction, a President who has a vision and a clear idea of what governance involves rather than just being a President.

“So, I am disappointed and that is why today, I am actively involved in trying to see that a new leader emerges in getting Nigerians a new lease of life.”

Baba-Ahmed, however, urged Southern governors not to negatively politicise the 2023 presidency, advising instead that they should instead negotiate as the North had lived under Southern Presidents — Olusegun Obasanjo and Jonathan — since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999.

. “The nation needs a leader that would do the things that President Buhari hasn’t done, create inclusiveness, address resentment and frustration in other parts of the country and the north and speak and act for everybody,” he said.