Don’t vote with emotion in 2023, OBJ warns Nigerians

Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president of Nigeria, has urged Nigerians not to allow emotions influence their voting choices in 2023.

When Mzough U Tiv, a Benue socio-cultural group, paid him a visit at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) in Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Sunday, Obasanjo stated this.

He added that he is in favor of a transfer of power from the North to the South and that the elections should be a watershed moment for Nigeria.

The Middle Belt was advised by the former president to thereafter lobby for the arrival of power in the area.

“If Nigeria is ready to get it right, the 2023 election should be a turning point. We should not go for emotion that will destroy us,” Obasanjo said.

According to him, with the growing population of the country, agriculture will be the solution to feeding Nigerians and not oil and gas.

“Only farming and agribusiness could tackle the nation’s growing population. Farming and agribusiness is what will feed the nation,” he said.

Obasanjo urged the Tiv people to concentrate on agriculture and agribusiness, saying that he hoped to create an industry in the state by the end of the current year.

Speaking, Iorbee Ihagh, leader of the group, said the visit was “basically to interface with you as our former head of state, a political pillar, a nationalist and elder statesman to appreciate your overwhelming love, passion and concern you have demonstrated over the Tiv people”.

He urged the former leader to take into account the need for Benue State to develop a fruit juice industry as well as the country’s power-sharing structure.

“With regards to the current power equation in the country, we in the Mzough u Tiv in conjunction with the Middle Belt Forum had unanimously resolved for power shift from the north to the south for fairness, justice and a true federalism,” he said.

“We want to call on your excellency and other well-meaning Nigerians to strictly adhere to the principle of rotation and distributive justice. If this is enforced, the middle belt would also be assured of producing the next president come 2031.”