2015: Voting may follow ethnic lines DECEMBER 14, 2014 BY JUDE OWUAMANAM, OLUWOLE JOSIAH, CHUKWUDI AKASIKE, LEKE BAIYEWU, BAYO AKINLOYE AND TOBI AWORINDE

The emergence of President Goodluck Jonathan
and a former military Head of State, General
Mohammadu Buhari (retd), as presidential
candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party and
All Progressives Congress respectively have set
the stage for a political war among various
ethnic and cultural groups in the country.
SUNDAY PUNCH enquires showed that while
some of the groups have taken decisions to
queue behind either Jonathan or Buhari, others
are in the process of taking decision on whom
to support.
This is happening even as some of the groups
have, however, chosen to be neutral.
Buhari is the All Progressives Congress
presidential candidate for the February 2015
election.
He defeated four other APC aspirants: Atiku
Abubakar, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Rochas Okorocha
and Sam Nda-Isaiah to clinch the party’s ticket
at a national convention/primary that held
Thursday in Lagos.
His victory sets him yet again as the number
one challenger to President Goodluck Jonathan,
who on Wednesday was formally handed the
Peoples Democratic Party flag for the 2015
presidential election without having to contend
with any opponent in the party.
The Ijaw National Congress told SUNDAY PUNCH
it would support President Goodluck Jonathan’s
bid for a second term in office. It said its
decision was based on the performance of the
President.
The INC spokesman, Mr. Victor Borubo, said the
congress had compared Jonathan’s
performance with that of past presidents and
came to the conclusion that he (Jonathan)
deserved a re-election.
“Apart from the fact that President Goodluck
Jonathan is a son of the Niger Delta people and
we will naturally vote for him, he is the only
President that has been so criticised and yet
did not harass anybody or send assassins
against anybody,” Borubo added.
The Coalition of Northern Politicians, Academics,
Professionals and Businessmen, is however
queuing behind Buhari. The convener of the
group, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, urged the
electorate in the North to vote for the APC
candidate.
He observed that while the PDP schemed out
other presidential aspirants in the party in
favour of Jonathan, a candidate of northern
extraction emerged from an open process in
the APC.
The Second Republic federal lawmaker, who
stated that he was not speaking for the North,
said Nigerians now had the option to choose
between the status quo or vote for a change in
the country.
Mohammed said, “There are only two
candidates in this (presidential) contest in 2015
– there is Goodluck Jonathan, who is
incompetent, and there is Gen. Muhammadu
Buhari, who is not only a former Head of State
but also a complete personification of integrity.
“What this means is that Nigerians now have a
very clear choice: If you don’t like what is in
this country in terms of the national economy,
insecurity, corruption at all levels and
decadence in government, then you have a
very clear-cut choice.”
Similarly, a pan-Yoruba association, Afenifere
Renewal Group, said it was solidly behind
whoever the APC fielded as its presidential
candidate.
Speaking with one of our correspondents, the
Publicity Secretary of the group, Mr. Kunle
Famoriyo, said, “We have a soft spot for the
APC as progressives, considering the work they
are doing in the South-West. We can rightly say
the APC is our adopted party. A majority of our
members are in the party and we support our
members who want to contest for public
positions, majority of whom are in the APC.
“The APC primary was a step forward for
Nigeria’s democracy from the point of view that
the election of Buhari was transparent. It
marked a new dawn in the way we select
people who are to govern in us in Nigeria,
because it was done in the presence of
everybody. People were able to see that there
was no imposition,” he said.
The Publicity Secretary of Afenifre, Mr. Yinka
Odumakin on Friday, however stated that the
group would meet to decide which presidential
candidate it will throw its weight behind in
2015 election.
“We will look at where both presidential
candidates (President Goodluck Jonathan and
Muhammadu Buhari) stand on the issue of
federalism which is at the core of what the
Afenifere group advocates. Afenifere is
concerned about the restructuring of this
country,” the Yoruba group spokesperson
stated.
Also, the Coordinator of the Federation of
Middle Belt People, Mr. Manasseh Watyil, told
one of our correspondents that the organisation
had yet to take a common stand as regards
who to support in the 2015 presidential
election.
Manasseh said the organisation would be
having a convention from December 27 to 29 to
decide on a particular candidate.
Similarly, the pan-Igbo socio-cultural group,
Ohanaeze Ndigbo, stated that it had not
decided yet on which presidential candidate to
support.
The National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze,
Osita Oganah, stated that the group was only
interested in good governance and that the
decision to support either the PDP or the APC
will depend on who emerges as the running
mate of Buhari.
“I have to let you know that at the moment,
our support goes to President Jonathan.
Jonathan has been doing well for the Igbo
“Yet, we will wait to decide who we will finally
support in the 2015 presidential election,” he
said.
In the same vein, the President of the
Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People,
Mr. Legborsi Pyagbara, said MOSOP was still
consulting on whether to support Jonathan or
Buhari.
Pyagbara, who spoke through his Media
Assistant, Mr. Bari-ara Kpalap, maintained that
MOSOP’s consultation would cut across all
spheres of Ogoni people and added that the
position of the body would be made known at
the end of such consultations.
But even as some groups take a definite stand,
a northern pressure group, Arewa Youth
Consultative Forum, has said it will rather
remain neutral, and not support either of the
candidates.
The National President of the group, Yerima
Shettima, said it had listened to several
manifestos and wanted to be careful to avoid
aligning with a party or an individual whose
antecedents may serve as a red flag.
Asked if any of the candidates had sought
support from the organisation, Shettima said,
“All of them, including the APC, the PDP and
those parties that are not considered popular
have sought our support.”
According to him, the group has been meeting
with candidates from several parties.
“We are in Kaduna and we have been in
several meetings to consider everything. Soon,
we will make our position clear to Nigerians,”
the AYCF president said.
The Yoruba Unity Forum is another group that
would rather remain neutral. It said it would
not have a preferred candidate for the 2015
presidential election.
The Chairman of the forum, Bishop of Akure
Diocese, Anglican Communion, Bolanle Gbonigi,
told our correspondent in a telephone interview
that since the forum was not a political party, it
would not be in tandem with its mandate to
back a particular presidential candidate.
He however said the forum would meet to
discuss the emergency of the two presidential
candidates of their respective parties, noting
that only after could the forum offer a formal
reaction to the development.