Former Governor of
the Central Bank of Nigeria and the current Emir of Kano,
Lamido Sanusi, says President
Goodluck Jonathan lost because of the mood of voters which was determined by
the economic conditions and level of poverty across the country.
Sanusi, who is now
known as Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II, said this during an interview with our
correspondent on Saturday.
He said the voting
showed that areas which had a high rate of poverty felt neglected by the
Peoples Democratic Party-led Federal Government over the years.
Sanusi said the
presidential poll results showed that the figures of the PDP in presidential
elections from 1999 had continued to dwindle significantly.
The monarch said
the PDP got fewer votes in 2007, less in 2011 and then fewer votes in 2015
causing the ruling party to finally lose to the opposition party, the All
Progressives Congress.
He said, “I think
in 2011, it was very clear that Jonathan had lost many states in the North that
had previously been won by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. And it was clear
that there was a general sense by people of the Federal Government not investing
in the areas where there is a high level of poverty.
“I believe more
and more of those states began to feel that sense of not feeling the federal
presence and not feeling the impact of democracy in their pockets and I think
it is extremely important for people to connect with the government and when
you have such conditions after 16 years of democracy, it was natural that
people would want to have a change and I think this is basically what has
happened.
“I don’t think it
is something about an individual, I think it is something that has been going
on for a number of years and you could see the states won by the PDP in 1999
and what they won in 2003, what they won in 2007, 2011 and you would begin to
see the changes in the way Nigerians were responding so it was a matter of
time.”
Sanusi, however,
commended Jonathan, the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari; and the Independent
National Electoral Commission for the conduct and atmosphere of the election.
He said change of
leadership was good for democracy as it encouraged healthy competition. He said
it was the trend in democracies across the world.
“I think it is
good for the country that you have different parties winning and if the APC
performs, they get another term and if they don’t, they get voted out after
four years and it is extremely important that this happens so let us not see it
in terms of somebody losing,” he said.
Sanusi also urged
Buhari not to focus solely on corruption but on other areas that required
urgent government attention such as education, decaying infrastructure,
diversifying the economy and fixing power.
Why Jonathan lost to Buhari by Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Monday, April 06, 2015
Rating:
No comments: