The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) says the region will not repeat the same mistake it made in 2015 by voting for a presidential candidate based on a narrow prism in the 2023 elections.
The forum spokesperson, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, made this claim on a Television Programme on Sunday.
According to him, the presidential candidates would be rigorously interrogated by the people of the North.
Baba-Ahmed admitted that the region made a mistake by trusting President Muhammadu Buhari with power in 2015.
“North will not vote for unserious candidates. We need to ask questions about the security, economy, and other sensitive issues affecting Nigerians. We will rigorously interrogate candidates on their readiness and sensitivity to issues bothering on the lives of northerners and Nigerians. We’ll not vote based on a narrow prism.” He said in the statement.
He added that “The North in 2023 will not operate in isolation. We’ll act in relation to other parts of the country. This is not about Sai Baba like we did in 2015. We want to see how the interests of Nigerians would be best represented by these candidates. If they can convince us, fine. Any candidate willing to answer questions before and after elections would be rigorously scrutinized. This is about the survival of the country, not a set of individuals.”
