Elections in Nigeria from 1999 to date had never been free and fair, but 2023 will be different – Sheikh Gumi

Sheikh Ahmed Gumi said in a post share on his Facebook:

WHY THE FRENZY ABOUT POWER SHIFT OR ROTATION?
Elections in Nigeria from 1999 to date had never been free and fair. Why? To satisfy the power mongers in sharing power between themselves for their selfish and nepotistic reasons. No common Nigerian whether northern or southern, Muslim or Christian was their center for concern. Power was more in the south in this period. 8+5 = 13 years of Obasanjo and GEJ respectively for the south. 2+8?= 10 years of Yaraduwa and Buhari respectively for the north. In all these years, except for a few exceptions, the common man (Talaka) in both the north and the south has been short-changed and didn’t harvest much benefit. One wonders, who is the victim of this sham regional equalization shrieks and cries of inequity from inconsequential politicians and political bandits? Nigerians should not be intimidated by their ranting.
Now, with a more robust INEC that promised to conduct a free and fair election aided by the electronic accreditation of voters and transmission of election results, the true dynamic forces of democratic processes will be for the first time the determinant and would be reflected in this nascent democracy.
Without genuine democracy where water finds its true level when people elect and get leaders they want, this hypocrito-cracy we call democracy will only prolong the political turbulence and civil agitations. But when the true principles of fair play and an equal level playing field for all Nigerians are presented, then the fittest will definitely emerge. Without the struggle for existence, the best never comes up. In reference to the undemocratic, unconstitutional rotation of the presidency, the late National Security Adviser, Owoye Azazi, on the 27th April 2012 asserted at the South-South Economic Summit in Asaba, Delta State in his words: “PDP got it wrong from the beginning by saying Mr. A can go and Mr. B cannot go and these decisions were made without looking at the constitution.”

Politics of exclusion, candidate suppression, preferential selections, and voter manipulations are the reason we continue getting the mediocre incompetent leaders that have characterized our 23 years’ political sojourn. The constitution is clear and supreme, and any party that continues the rotational policy will die naturally and go into extinction. Only the fittest would survive.
Only a leader who established that national interest overrides selfish, sectional or sectarian, or tribal interests can get the necessary votes to win the elections. We would then have a country where a man’s capability, productivity, merit, and efficiency would decide his social-economic development, rather than the parochial political, and ethnic affiliations.
The Leadership sought is for Nigerians not for one that will protect a regional or sectarian interest. Therefore let us allow Nigerians to choose their leaders.
The trouble states when people that don’t have the constitutional requirement to lead people think it’s their right to rule or else break the nation. Giving power to any such group is not only undesirable but the cause of unhealthy friction and the dirty struggle between regions and religions. South Arica with a black majority rule didn’t affect negatively the well-being of the more proficient minority white population, but it brought permanent peace as the whites succumbed to their true political status and power.
Let Nigerians decide. Nigeria with over 200 tribes has no monolithic region. Power cannot be rotated between some few selected dominant tribes and we talk of equality or inequality. Let every Nigeria aspire and the best will evolve –God’s willing.
I know the 2023 elections will be polarized. Tribal, regional and religious factors will play strongly, yet the good thing about it is that the constitutional provision has taken that into consideration, only a nationalistic candidate and party can make it to the top with two third of the votes across the board.
Therefore if your tribe or region or religion cannot get two-thirds of Nigerians to approve, please don’t impose yourself on Nigerians, you are going nowhere and Nigerians don’t want you. The time has come for us to be counted among civilized educated nations where every individual has equal rights.
May Allah bring peace, progress, and tranquility to our dear nation. Amin