Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has urged Nigerians not to vote for candidates who have no capacity to perform well or persons with questionable character in the 2023 general election.

The ACF also enjoined Nigerians to shun voting for candidates who were handpicked by the president or governors as successors, noting that the selection of a successor by the incumbent promotes corruption and poor leadership.

The Forum gave the admonition via a statement issued on Sunday by its Secretary General, Murtala Aliyu.

It further called on the Federal Government to commit itself to deliver fair, transparent, credible, and hitch-free elections “the outcomes of which must be decided only by the votes cast”.

“The President has at various time, and at different fora promised to do that. The nation looks forward to the fulfillment of that promise.

“Voters will do great disservice to themselves if they were to vote into offices persons they know or should know, have no capacity to perform well, or are persons with questionable character.

“Voters are also always advised to shun those unhealthy schemes whereby a president or state governor handpicks a successor. Nothing promotes entrenched corruption, cronyism, and poor leadership more that such schemes as such dubious arrangements.

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“The nation will never be able to identify and select good leaders among its people so long as some dubious people are allowed to manipulate the selection of candidates and the ultimate election processes.

“A cardinal and national goal of our great and dear country Nigeria include the creation of a nation in which: ‘though tribe and tongue may differ, in brotherhood we stand’.

“We, as a nation, believed so much in such slogan that at one time, it was a part of our national anthem!

“And in simple terms, it means that in our search for good leaders, we must cast our nets far beyond our ethnic, religious or geographical interests,” the ACF stated.

The Forum urged Nigerians to seek leaders that “best cater for our national interests, and who are elected within the tenets of democratic processes”, saying a leader does not have to come from the citizens’ tribe, zone, region, or religious persuasion.

Speaking on power rotation between the North and the South, the ACF said though the principle of power rotation is controversial, the principle must be accepted by Nigerians.

It stated: “When 17 State Governors from Southern part of Nigeria, and from different political parties met last year and demanded that a Southerner must be elected as the president of Nigeria, the heavens did not fall. It was accepted that as we are in a democracy, they were entitled to their views and opinions.

“Quite recently also, some 14 Northern Governors belonging to the ruling All Progressives Congress Party, (APC), me and came out with the announcement that they had committed themselves to ensuring that a candidate of their party from the southern part of the country is elected president of the country.

“Their reason was that the emergence and subsequent election of a person from the southern part of the country will serve to entrench the principle of North/South power rotation in the politics of Nigeria.

“Though the principle of power rotation is still largely and somewhat controversial, nonetheless, under our democratic dispensation we must reconcile ourselves to accepting that Nigeria is a country for all its citizens, and each citizen has right to choose whatever he or she believes to be in the best interests of themselves and their followers.

“At the same time, however, they also have to accept the principle of power rotation between North and South.”

The Forum, however, commended security agencies and the Independent National Electoral  Commission (INEC) for creating a conducive environment that will ensure that the forthcoming general election is free and fair, and that every vote cast counts.

“We are particularly impressed by the introduction of technology in the electioneering process, a right step that will surely serve to check against such hitherto usual electoral malpractices of over-voting, ballot stuffing,  ballot box snatching, and the alteration of results.

“The online transmission of results from the polling points to the collating centers and the provision of facilities for people to monitor election results online are also innovations that will ensure that the elections are not rigged,” the ACF added.

The Star