Nigeria Is Country Where We Elect President Before Asking If He Understands The Job – Former Kano Emir, Sanusi

Muhammed Sanusi, a former Emir of Kano, has talked about some of the problems of Nigeria.

He stated that Nigeria is the only country he knows where the people elect the president, before “knowing if he knows what he is doing or whether he understands what the job is.”

Sanusi added that the concluded general elections had further dangerously divided Nigeria along ethnic and religious lines.

The former emir and former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi spoke at the third Nigerian Leadership Colloquium in honour of the senior pastor of Trinity House, Lagos, Ituah Ighodalo, who turned 62 on Tuesday.

He noted that Nigeria’s economy was in the doldrums.

He said; “In October 2022, speaking at the Kaduna Investment Forum, I told Nigerians that if anyone told them that dealing with Nigeria post-2023 would be easy, they should not vote for that person. I meant it.

“I don’t think Nigeria has been in a place as difficult as this since the civil war. We have a challenge of nation building.

“We have a country that has been divided dangerously along ethnic and religious lines.

“We have an economy that is in the doldrums, and unfortunately, we seem to be having a dearth of leadership.”

According to him, beyond defining the kind of leaders the country needs, it also needs to look critically at the process through which the leaders emerge.

“No process is perfect. We have seen so in the United Kingdom and the United States. At the very least, the people should know who they are voting for.  I think we need to begin to look at the Electoral Act, 2022 much earlier than elections.  We need to have a system where one cannot just go to participate in party primaries without being exposed to public scrutiny. This is what happens everywhere. People need to know what they are voting for. In other climes, they are compelled by law to participate in public debates to discuss issues of policy.” 

“This is the only country I know where we elect a President first before knowing if he knows what he is doing or whether he understands what the job is,” he added.

He also said the process through which Nigerians choose their leaders must be more transparent.