Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, appears to have the answers as to
why President Goodluck Jonathan was defeated by Muhammadu Buhari, in his
re-election bid.
According to the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigerian the
President simply lost because of the economic conditions and level of
poverty across the country which determined the mood of the voters.
Sanusi said: “I think in 2011, it was very clear that Jonathan had
lost many states in the North that had previously been won by former
President Olusegun Obasanjo. And it was clear that there was a general
sense by people of the Federal Government not investing in the areas
where there is a high level of poverty.
“I believe more and more of those states began to feel that sense of
not feeling the federal presence and not feeling the impact of democracy
in their pockets and I think it is extremely important for people to
connect with the government and when you have such conditions after 16
years of democracy, it was natural that people would want to have a
change and I think this is basically what has happened.
“I don’t think it is something about an individual, I think it is
something that has been going on for a number of years and you could see
the states won by the PDP in 1999 and what they won in 2003, what they
won in 2007, 2011 and you would begin to see the changes in the way
Nigerians were responding so it was a matter of time.