AS preparations for 2015 elections heighten, the core North, comprising mainly Hausa Fulani groups, is increasingly bitterly divided over who to support between President Goodluck Jonathan and former head of state, General Muhammadu Buhari.
This is coming as the South-West chapter of the National Council for Islamic Affairs declared support for President Jonathan’s reelection because of what the group called “his verifiable achievements across South-West.”
Investigations by Sunday Tribune in upper Northern states revealed that the elite and opinion leaders among the Hausa Fulani stock are split down the line about who to support between the two major contenders.
Northern elites who lined up behind General Buhari include the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Saad Abubakar, who is leading some Northern emirs; 11 Arewa young turks, led by former minister, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai; four core Northern governors, led by Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano State and a loose coalition of clerics said to be linked to various street groups across the Northern region.
Those reported to be behind President Jonathan include four former presidents, led by former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida; former Army top brasses, led by former National Security Adviser (NSA), General Aliu Gusau; a section of Arewa sultanate and emirate family, led by Colonel Sambo Dasuki; a new crop of powerful office holders, led by Vice-President Namadi Sambo; and another faction of religious clerics linked to sufi societies across the core North.
Checks among the two groups revealed that both are very powerful and entrenched, even as it was discovered that the two camps have different reasons for taking positions they have taken on the 2015 elections.
Sunday Tribune was told that a meeting of some Northern leaders was held in Minna, Niger State, two weeks ago where the issue of 2015 was deliberated upon. The meeting, it was learnt, was personally coordinated by former President Babangida and continued till late in the night.
A top politician who attended the meeting confided that “most leaders believe Jonathan should be supported for three major reasons, namely, to preserve national stability, to redeem the image of the North and to provide strategic platform for eventual return of power to the North in 2019.
Sunday Tribune, however, gathered that a top politician from Kano stormed out of the meeting, arguing that Buhari should be supported. The politician was reported to have accused the leaders in attendance of not trusting Buhari due to past interactions and relationship.
Further checks showed that the pro-Buhari group is laying emphasis on reaching out to the lower rung of core North as the election is drawing closer.
A particular group comprising former consultants to the defunct Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) is spearheading the campaign. The group is said to be using middle-class Northerners to reach the grassroots.
It was learnt that personal considerations, rather than personalities of the two candidates, are playing strong role in such states as Sokoto, Kano and Bauchi.
According to a party chief from Kano, “many will vote for Jonathan because of Shekarau, Gusau, Sambo and others. Also, many will vote for Buhari because of kwankwaso, el-Rufai, Wamakko and others.
“Truly, we are not that monolithic as you people classed us. We also have our differences and opinions. I for example, wherever Shekarau is, there I and my family will go,” he said.
South-West Muslim council backs GEJ
Meanwhile, the Muslim council in South-West has debunked insinuations that Yoruba Muslims are to vote for Buhari, describing such reports as “pure lie.”
The Secretary-General of the Muslim council, Mallam Hakeem Adelani, told Sunday Tribune that “Yoruba Muslims are very objective people who do not vote on religious sentiments. We are not goats or rams that you just march and sell in political market.
“Why should we vote Buhari? Why should we vote for Jonathan? What have both men done for Yoruba people? For us, we have seen Lagos –Ibadan express road. If the man can complete that road alone, he has our support.
“Jonathan has done for Yoruba, what our son, Olusegun Obasanjo, failed to do for us. Our main airport in Ibadan is having a new look. Many power plants are in Yorubaland. Our railway is working. Jonathan has done well for the Yoruba,” he said.
“And let me tell you another reason Yoruba Muslims will back Jonathan. His deputy is a Muslim who grew up in Yorubaland and understands us so much. Buhari has picked a Christian from South-West as his deputy. He has snubbed the 55 per cent Muslims in Yorubaland,” he said.
Adelani disclosed that the council would soon commence a mosque to mosque campaign on why Jonathan is better than Buhari.
Source: Tribune
