A controversial Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has said Nigeria did not need a novice as President, but an experienced politician to lead it in the 2023 general election.
The cleric noted that the next President of the country should be one with experience, adding that there was nothing wrong with politicians contesting elections several times and seeking victory.
The cleric also said the same faith ticket adopted by the All Progressives Congress (APC) has nothing to do with religion.
Gumi enjoined Nigerians to unite and do away with ethnoreligious policies that had no benefit for developing Nigerians.
Speaking with newsmen at his residence in Kaduna on Monday about the 2023 general elections in the country, he placed the three leading presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, the All Progressive Congress, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Labour Party, Peter Obi, the fiery cleric said Nigeria needs an experienced Leader, not an experimental leader.
Assessing Atiku for the 2023 presidency, Gumi said that though the former Vice President might have contested several times, “Nigeria needs an experienced politician. We don’t need a novice to be President. The situation in Nigeria today needs an experienced politician to solve it.”
Speaking on the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Gumi said he observed that it was not right for Bola Ahmed Tinubu to say that it was his turn to become Nigeria’s president.
According to him, it is not proper for Bola Ahmed Tinubu to say it is his turn to rule the country, saying there is no question about whether it is his turn, Don’t say it is my turn because if people like you, they will vote for you.
Gumi emphasized, “He (Tinubu) is a good administrator, he can do it. The Muslim-Muslim ticket is unnecessary. We all know. All these politicians are looking for votes. ” The Muslim-Muslim ticket is, let me use Hausa language, is wayo (deceit). It is not religion”.
Whether it would work or not, he explained that he does not want to prophesy about who wins the presidency among the presidential candidates for there are a lot of hurdles to cross, stressing that all the political parties have hurdles as the Muslim-Muslim ticket is going to be a laboratory test for others to emulate or not.
Speaking on the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, he advised that the presidential candidate needs to reach out to other segments of Nigerians, believing that he has to be all over every part of the country and not leaving politics to a region.
The Cleric said, “Youths following him are divided like the adults. He needs to reach out to other segments of Nigerians. Relying on youths is not enough. He has to be all over the place, and not leave politics to one region.”
