Soyinka denies supporting Buhari in 2015, says he only asked Nigerians to vote out Jonathan

From Ogundele Olanrewaju

Prof Wole Soyinka, Nobel laureate says he didn’t endorse or ask Nigerians to vote for President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.

Soyinka said this on Thursday, April 7, 2022, at a media briefing in Lagos.

During the build-up to the 2015 election, the Nobel laureate was one of the critics of the administration of former President, Goodluck Jonathan.

Soyinka while speaking at the media briefing recalled that he urged Nigerians to vote out Jonathan, but denied endorsing Buhari, who was the main opposition candidate in the 2015 presidential election.

He said he didn’t vote for Buhari and didn’t ask anyone to vote for the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate.

Soyinka said: “Jonathan had a chance to win that election and I told him this. He blew it. He really blew it on many levels.

“Before the election, I told him frankly. I told him why I was not going to vote for him or support him because he lost the confidence and trust of the people — a couple of actions and inactions, including his failure to tackle corruption. Despite that, it is false to say that I supported the election of Buhari.

“If I believed that is what I should do, I would not hesitate one moment to come out and say this is the candidate. I challenge anyone to say where did I say vote for Buhari — when, what occasion and in what language?

“What I said very distinctly is ‘do not vote for Jonathan’. I don’t regret that because the level of corruption at that stage was such at number one.

“It is a shame that one has to recall negativities. At no time did I ever say ‘vote for Buhari’. You can’t find it anywhere. I did not vote for Buhari. If you do not believe me, go and ask the security man in Abeokuta who used to accompany me if I left my house that day.”

He said Nigeria had lost a key opportunity to unite, adding that he didn’t believe that President Buhari’s administration could bring the country together.