‘People weren’t feeling impact of democracy,’ Emir explains why Jonathan lost to Buhari

Sanusi, a former Central Bank governor, stated that Jonathan lost because citizens in high-poverty areas felt neglected by his government.

 

The Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has explained why President Goodluck Jonathan lost to President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari in the recently concluded elections.

Sanusi, a former Central Bank governor, stated that Jonathan lost because citizens in high-poverty areas felt neglected by his government.

The Emir made the comments on Saturday, April 4, during an interview with Punch.

“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,” Sanusi said.

“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,” he added.

“I don’t think it is somethin

g 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,” the Emir said.

Sanusi however praised Jonathan, Buhari and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for ensuring the peaceful conduct of the election.