Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the Coalition of Northern Groups, (CNG) has urged northerners not to repeat the mistake of 2015 where the North, for the first time closed all religious and ethnic gaps and voted in one direction with incredible expectations that leaders they elected will get them through and out of their limitations around security and the economy.
Speaking at a Sensitisation rally, organised by the CNG at the Arewa House Kaduna yesterday, the spokesperson of the CNG, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, said indeed the North made a mistake in 2015, whereby the deliberate commission, or omission, of the people they trusted with power, has inadvertently isolated the region politically, economically and socially as a result of which, the once potent and progressive region is begging for a place in the nation’s future political arrangement.
He further said, “The North has been abandoned to a critical security situation with its widowed women, children orphaned, youths maimed and killed and people displaced in thousands. According to him, “Politicians and leaders we have elected have prospered, but the bulk of us are left jobless, homeless, helpless and hopeless”. He assured that the 2023 election will be special, because the only thing that will truly matter to citizens is not which party or which candidate controls the government in future, but whether the government is controlled by the people.
The National Coordinator of the group, Comrade Jamilu Aliyu Charanchi, lamented that instead of addressing the challenges as they emerge, successive leaderships found it expedient to use them for either political gains, or to serve their selfish interest of polarising the region along ethno-religious, and socio-cultural divides.
He urged the electorate to map out their needs and refuse to be deceived by just any politician coming with the usual campaign promises that would never be fulfilled saying, “The northern voter must look out for credible candidates with proven pedigrees, honesty, sense of nationalism and sound understanding of the current challenges facing the region”.
The General Overseer of the Christ Evangelical and Life Fellowship Ministry, Pastor Yohanna Buru, urged citizens to shun politics of sentiment in order to bring about peace and unity in diversity.
