Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, on Friday, said as far as the forthcoming general elections were concerned, politicians from the Northern part of the country had miscalculated.
Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), a Northerner, is contesting against President Goodluck Jonathan (a Southerner) of the Peoples Democratic Party.
Okupe, who spoke to journalists in Abuja, said Northern politicians got it wrong because they erroneously believed that a national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, is the leader of the Yoruba race and that he could deliver the South-West.
He said while doing that, the North left out some of the people that really matter in the zone whom he described as the North’s former allies.
He said, “The North has always had partnership in the South; in the South-West, South-South and South-East.
“But somehow, the North miscalculated this time around because they assumed wrongly that Bola Tinubu was the leader of the Yoruba race, and that if they can strike a deal with him, they have got the South-West.
“While doing that, they left their former allies that included Gen. Adeyinka Adebayo (retd.), Richard Akinjide, Omololu Olunloyo and others.”
Okupe said even if Buhari wins the presidential election, which he said was impossible, the North would still lose out.
He said if Buhari wins, he would not be able to do a second term, therefore, giving room for a southerner to again emerge as the President in 2019.
He wondered if the North would be satisfied with only four years when they could have their full eight years from 2019.
“Even if Buhari wins this election, which is impossible, he cannot do a second term. So, when the second term comes, why would other people not contest against him? He is a Northerner and if he cannot run for election again, then, the thing should go back to the South. So, would the North be satisfied with only four years?
“These are the issues. That is why I am saying this 2015 election is beyond Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari. It is a matter of national stability,” he explained.
Okupe was of the view that if Jonathan completes his second term of four years in 2019, the North has a chance that cannot be denied to present a candidate who will rule the country for another eight years.
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