A former governor of Kaduna State and chieftain of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, on Saturday said it was wrong for former President Goodluck Jonathan to claim that the entire North worked against him in 2011 and 2015 general elections.
Although he said he felt Jonathan was not competent to continue to lead the country, he supported the former President in the 2015 presidential election because he did not want President Muhammadu Buhari to win the election.
A former governor of Kano State, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, also said he wished Jonathan well.
The former President, in his new book, “My Transition Hours,” said some Peoples Democratic Party governors worked against him in 2015.
Musa, who recently announced his retirement from active politics because of age and failing health, noted that he supported the former President against the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Buhari, in the election.
The former governor, who emphatically told one of our correspondents on the telephone that he was not speaking for the North, said the Peoples Redemption Party publicly endorsed the former President in Akwa Ibom in 2015.
According to him, his reason for endorsing Jonathan was that Buhari and the APC represented ‘fascism’.
He said, “I don’t represent the North. I can’t comment on this. He (Jonathan) should know who was against him. I was not against him.
“In fact, in 2015, we favoured him. We preferred him to Buhari because we regarded Buhari and his APC as fascists. Even though Jonathan is equally incompetent, we feltthe PDP was safer.”
Kwankwaso, who was in the PDP until he defected to the APC in 2015, and this year rejoined the PDP, spoke through Binta Sipikin, in response to a question by one of our correspondents.
He said, “I don’t think the former President was specifically referring to Senator Kwankwaso. Hence, there is no need for any response. However, the senator wishes former President Goodluck Jonathan well in all his feature endeavours.”
Some northern youths also accused the ex-President of failing to honour his agreement with them.
The National President of the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, a coalition of over 30 youth organisations in the North, Alhaji Yerima Shettima told one of our correspondents why the region worked against former President Jonathan.
Shettima said the insistence of the former President to contest the 2015 presidential election forced the North especially the Northern Elders’ Forum to mobilise against that administration.
He said, “The North was against the former President because he failed to honour a gentleman agreement. Instead of him to either resign or quit the stage for a northerner, he reneged.
“So, the Northern Elders’ Forum under the leadership of the late Yusuf Maitama Sule, felt the battle line was drawn and worked against him.” Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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