…canvasses support for Peter Obi
Activist and founder of Citizens Hub, Aisha Yesufu has described the 2023 presidential election as “a fight for survival”, urging Nigerians to be more active during the process.
“Nigerians better get ready because 2023 election is election for survival; we are fighting for our lives. We want a nation where we can breathe”, she said in an interview on Arise News TV.
“Today, life in Nigeria is nasty, short and brutish. I mean, everybody is a victim waiting to happen. Even when you’re in your house, you don’t know if you’re going to get to the next morning or somebody is coming to carry you from your house.
“So, this is not a time of shying away and thinking politics is not for everyone. Politics is for everyone, because at the end of the day, it is through the political process that the leaders are brought in, and we must be interested in it”.
Yesufu, who was co-convener of #BringBackOurGirls, advocated that candidates should be voted for based on their competence and not their political parties, and that the next government should involve people who are passionate about the growth of Nigeria.
“One of the things we’ve been saying is that it’s not about parties; it’s about candidates. We’ve seen that a good number of parties do not present competent candidates because there are no incentives in their parties. So, they always give us someone they can control, which hasn’t been good for us.
“We want people who are incorruptible, people who have served and not stolen wealth, people who have served diligently to be able to come and run for office”, she said.
According to her, Nigeria is battling underdevelopment because of selfish desires to get into office.
“If you’re not from this party or that party, you can’t win elections and that is the reason why we are where we are today”, Yesufu said.
“A lot of people who get into office do not care about the people, because they feel it’s not the people that bring them in. So, their loyalty is to the people who gave them the party tickets.
“Vigilance is the price you pay for democracy. So, we must be vigilant and ensure that whoever is going in there knows that they got there because of us the people. It will be a government for the people, not a government for certain people in Nigeria”.
In a viral video on her Twitter handle on Saturday, Yesufu reiterated her support for the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi in next year’s election. She said the electorate should vote competence and character.
She stated that the economic downtown and security challenges have dealt with Nigerians already and they should therefore looked beyond showmanship in electing the next leader.
The votes for Obi is not about Igbo or Christianity, but about who could be held accountable, Yesufu canvassed.
“I just want to know if you’re thinking of Peter Obi. We are talking of competence. This is not about Igbo, or about Christianity. This is about competence, character and capacity and courage. It is about being able to make demands and be able to criticise and be able to hold whoever is in the office accountable.
“Forget about all those things that I will show them. Poverty has already shown us. Insecurity has already shown us. The terrorists are showing us already. The thing that we need to do is to come together and choose the person that will do the job”, she further said.
