Convener of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) and former Vice-Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, (ABU) Zaria, Professor Ango Abdullahi, has disclosed that very soon, the North will declare the presidential candidate it’ll support.
Professor Ango Abdullahi made his disclosure in an interview published at the weekend, while speaking on the state of the presidential race and Norths position, eight years of the Buhari administration.
According to the NEF Convener, I am sure you remember we organised an interactive session in Kaduna State for presidential candidates who cared to attend. Some of them attended. The reason for that interactive session is for the candidates to come and tell us what they are going to do for Nigeria generally and what they are going to do in Northern Nigerian specifically. Only five candidates appeared at the session.
So far, we have been evaluating what they have said. And we will not take their presentations before us alone as the basis to support any of them. We are also following their campaign; finding out to see if what they told us is the same thing they are saying in their campaign. So, the evaluation of candidates is an ongoing thing from our own end. Very soon, we will come to the conclusion as to who is the best material to support.
Recall that Prof. Ango Abdullahi was earlier quoted to have said the North will only support a presidential candidate who will lead the country with competence, integrity, compassion and fear of God.
Baring his mind further in the interview, he said, “We are bearing a lot of the failure of the Buhari administration. There is insecurity in the North. There is poverty in the North. We are certainly bearing the brunt of hardship in terms of the way we voted before. So, we have learnt quite a lot of lessons from that, and we should be looking forward to something better than what we have now in the next elections.
According to him, “The Northern voters have to be convinced in terms of what they are voting for; they are not voting based on sentiments, but for something substantial in terms of what their interest in Nigeria is. There is absolutely nothing wrong if the next president is a Northerner, as long as people have voted. The votes will determine who wins an election, he affirmed.
