Stakeholders Warn Against Regional Voting

Political analysts in Benue State have warned Nigerians especially those in the North Central  against regional voting during the 2023 presidential election.

In a telephone conversation with LEADERSHIP, a political commentator Lawrence Semaka urged Nigerians to vote credible leaders irrespective of region, religion, political and tribal affiliation, adding that doing so will restore the lost glory of the country in all spheres.

He regretted why Nigerians always practice politics of regionalism, which he described as a risk particularly as it concerns the 2023 presidential election.

According to him, “When you look at the presidential candidates, I am talking about the three major contestants of Atiku, Tinubu and Obi who we all know are representing the key ethnic tribes in the country, and now when you look at the demography of election in Nigeria, it is likely that citizens are going to vote along regional lines.”

He said the danger is that by the time people decide to vote on regional lines the country will not get the best because of ethnics and religious sentiments which would have beclouded the voters sense of judgement instead of looking at the credentials and credibility of candidates and their track records.

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  “So, the possible risk of voting along regional lines is that at the end of the day, we will not have the correct leadership the country is looking for, and the unfortunate thing in the North Central is that there is a lot of cleavages and we also have a lot of tribes within the North Central and the region is dominated by Christians and Muslims, this will split votes because I don’t see them going along with any block,” he added.

He said all presidential candidates are going to scramble for votes in the North Central, but it will all depend on who has the upper hand. He noted that it will not go down well with them in the North Central, adding, “it is better for us to vote for credible candidate that can deliver instead of regional and sectional interest that will take us no where.”

In his view, a senior lecturer in the Department of Political Science, Benue State University Makurdi, Dr Terver Akpar, who also kicked against regional voting urged Nigerians to resist such temptation that will rather cripple the economy more.

Akpar, in his submission also warned Nigerians against regional politics adding that “we are suffering not because of religion or region, but because we are victims of power that we gave to people through our votes.”