Two apex northern groups, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF) have declared that they have no preferred candidates for both the presidential and other elections.
They have therefore urged Nigerians to vote their conscience and competent leaders who would provide them good governance.
ACF in a statement issued by its secretary-general Murtala Aliyu tagged, ‘ACHIEVING SUCCESS WITH THE 2023 GENERAL ELECTIONS’ which was obtained by Africa Today News, New York said, ‘In a few days, some 93 million Nigerians will go to the polls to elect a new President, 31 State Governors, 469 Members of the National Assembly, and 990 Members of the 36 State Houses of Assembly. There is no doubt that this is a gigantic and important exercise.’Our hopes and prayers are that the elections will be held peacefully, and will produce outcomes that will help take the country closer to its main development goals of building a free, just, democratic, and egalitarian society. A great, united, and self-reliant nation, with a strong and dynamic economy. A land full of bright opportunities for all citizens. Clearly, the necessary requirement for achieving success in the elections is the determination of Nigerians to ensure it actually succeeds.
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‘Towards that end, the federal government, in particular, must commit itself to delivering what should turn out to be a fair, transparent, credible, and hitch-free election the outcomes of which must be decided only by the votes cast. The President has at various times, and at different fora promised to do that.
‘The nation looks forward to the fulfillment of that promise. At times such as this when the nation is in election mode, such as time like this, the ACF has always taken the liberty to draw the attention of voters to the right qualities they should look for when deciding whom to cast their votes for.
‘At each occasion such as this, the key selection criteria we recommend to voters to consider are very clear and objective party manifestos and the character and track records of the candidates. Voters will do great disservice to themselves if they were to vote into offices persons they know, or should know, have no capacity to perform well, or are persons with questionable character.
‘Voters are also always advised to shun those unhealthy schemes whereby a president or state governor handpicks a successor. Nothing promotes entrenched corruption, cronyism and poor leadership more than such schemes as such dubious arrangements. The nation will never be able to identify and select good leaders among its people so long as some dubious people are allowed to’
On its part, NEF through one of its members, Alhaji Seidu Baba, has said the group’s 10th anniversary was not meant to endorse the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
According to Baba, NEF remains neutral and cannot endorse a candidate for the election.