Nigerians against Muslim-Muslim ticket over Buhari and APC failures, says Eya

Former Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo and former Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC, Chief Nduka Eya, in this interview with LAWRENCE NJOKU, spoke about the 2023 general elections.

Why do you think the unrest against the Muslim-Muslim ticket is ringing? Nigeria has a problem; the problem of forgetting sequences and they jump to current situations and approach it as if it were the thing. Everything has a background. I had said earlier that part of the problems in Nigeria is the 1999 Constitution, which was clearly imposed on the people. Obasanjo was president in 1999 but he knew nothing about this constitution until he was sworn in. He swore on a constitution he would protect that he hadn't read. The truth is that the 1999 Constitution was parochial and crafted by the Nigerian military and in the interests of one part of the country against the others. Everything in this constitution is skewed against certain sections of the country and everyone is supposed to share the same pot.

That's where the trouble started and we went from bad to worse. So, because the current administration of the country has encouraged divide and rule and has continued to treat parts of the country as if they were slaves, an agitation against the same ticket of faith will exist. Because the government led by Muhammadu Buhari treated the economy with disdain. Agitation against the same faith presidential ticket will grow; because there is insecurity, which the government has failed to address, and people are bound to reject anything that comes from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Let me say that myopic tendencies in leadership have created anger for the same ticket of faith and that will continue unless those who imposed it leave the scene.

Some say Nigerians once voted for Abiola and KingibeI said Nigerians never sat anywhere to write the current Constitution. It is an imposition by the military. Besides, who are the people trying to benefit from the Muslim-Muslim ticket? Are they people Nigerians can trust? Who are the people behind them? These are the key questions. Remember that MKO Abiola was an established international businessman before joining politics. Abiola was a household name in telecommunications. He made money as a businessman before entering politics. He was a philanthropist and showed pedigree in his business. He reached out to all parties regardless of the fact that he was a Muslim. He did not differentiate. Abiola was free and established himself. By this time, the military had served several years in power and Nigerians wanted a change in civilian rule. So it did not matter to Nigerians whether there were two Muslims or not because people wanted to restore Nigeria. It was a different environment compared to what we have now. People didn't care. Abiola was in 1993 and when you compare it with now that Muhammadu Buhari is in power, you find that Nigerians have been through a lot of hell. So many things that could have made the country great have been abandoned.

Buhari's campaign has come up with the mantra of change following the level of corruption in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government. I am, however, of the view that what should be the overriding concern of Nigerians just months away from the election is a scorecard. The PDP with all its corruption ruled us from 1999 to 2014 and Nigerians should start looking back at their social condition, their security condition and their economic and political condition and start comparing those conditions with those of today.

The APC administration has been there since 2015, what has been our situation? Have things changed for the better? Nigeria has been so divided, especially over the past seven years. Buhari's program has resurrected ethnicity and religion and that is why there is so much controversy in the country. The blame should be on Buhari for his method. Tinubu was the national leader of the APC, which is the ruling party; what did he do to draw attention to the level of deceit and decadence as well as the suffering of Nigerians? Does this mean that he stayed away on the pretext of entering as president, but to do what? What else is he doing? Who is his running mate and what do Nigerians think of him?

Nigerians are fighting and opposing the Muslim-Muslim ticket because of what happened in the last seven years that Buhari ruled the country. He ensured that a single region and its religion would dominate in all aspects of the country.

You can't talk about security without the three main tribes involved. But in Buhari's case, he removed the tripod and singled out the Fulani only. Buhari is the first leader, who challenged the federal character of Nigeria and the Commission could not ask questions. Let's publish how ministries and parastata...