On Sunday, Osita Okechukwu, a founding member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said that none of the famous politicians vying to inherit the 12 million “vote-bank” of late former president Muhammadu Buhari have the qualifications to succeed him. During an interfaith service honouring Buhari in Abuja, Okechukwu informed journalists of this.
Advertisements
According to the ex-Director General of VON, Buhari went to the North for support since he was a trustworthy individual.
As much as I admire the prominent politicians who are vying to take over from the late President Buhari’s 12 million strong voter base, I must respectfully suggest that their ambitions are incompatible with Buhari’s exceptional humanity, integrity, transparency quotient, and moral compass.
Throughout their time in public office, not a single one of them has demonstrated a strong moral compass or ever taken a stand against the accumulation of wealth through corrupt practices. They have never run for office without the illegal and immoral baggage of vote-buying, and they lack the moral fortitude of Buhari to be emulated.
We should remember that Buhari’s popularity as Mai Gaskiya (Honest Man) and their backing of him were based on their meticulous evaluation of his honesty and openness during more than half a century of public service.
“The public is well-informed that a few of these individuals are accused of privatising state-owned companies like NEPA, Aluminium Smelter Company, Ajaokuta Steel, and others without delivering the promised results.”
According to Okechukwu, Buhari had an impeccable record from 1975 to 2025, during which he held several positions without a hitch, including governor of the now-defunct North-East, chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), general officer commanding (GOC) of three divisions, military head of state, and civilian president.
Key aspirants of “our sister political party, ADC who wittingly or unwittingly believe they can ride on Buhari’s 12 million vote-bank with northern card emblem; as if they are unaware that the northern electorates are one of the most sophisticated and altruistic,” the former VON DG said, confusing him.
The fact that northern electorates are more patriotic—as shown by their higher votes for Abiola in 1993 and obliging Tinubu in 2023—than southern electorates demonstrates that the “flying northern card” is an illusion.
By deliberately pitting the North against the South, those seeking access to the renowned Buhari’s 12 million vote-bank hope to shorten the two-term convention for each area. Fairness, equity, and justice are the cornerstones of our democracy; so, they should reconsider.
They don’t share Buhari’s discipline or moral compass, and they certainly never followed Malam Aminu Kano’s Talakawa (proletarian) tradition, which is a prerequisite for membership in the northern cult, so we shouldn’t be afraid of them.
“Thank goodness their scheme to transfer most of Buhari’s supporters from the now-defunct Congress of Progressive Change (CPC) to the ADC, orchestrated by ex-governors Tanko Almakura and Aminu Masari, was a colossal failure.”
He cautioned them to tread carefully so as not to jeopardise the Presidency’s rotation convention, which has become an integral part of Nigeria’s 4th Republic Democracy and a unifying factor in the nation.