Soyinka says he won't be supporting Atiku or Buhari

Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, says he won’t be throwing his weight behind either of Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) or Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“It is time for a totally new direction, and when an alternative emerges, we will give the candidate our backing,” TheCable quotes Soyinka as saying at an ongoing interactive session tagged ‘Citizen Forum 2019'.

Soyinka has repeatedly taken President Buhari to task on the handling of the herdsmen-farmers crisis in the north and central regions of Nigeria.

According to Punch, Soyinka said: “For the avoidance of doubt, let me make my position quite clear because I don’t want any ambiguity; I, Wole Soyinka, will not be voting for either the two so-called contesting parties. I find both of them worthy of absolute rejection.

“For a number of reasons which I will not go into here, I’m not interested in a comparative assessment. My position is simply that it is time for a totally new direction. And obviously, I’m not the only one, as I’m speaking, there is a coalition having its meeting in Lagos from which they hope to produce a consensus candidate.

“There is another group meeting in Abuja, also at the end would send us their consensus candidate. Things have been going on quietly in the background to try and change the direction of this nation in a very positive way and to make the public understand that they do not have to be enslaved permanently to the old discredited order. It is my sole business in this election.

Soyinka and Obasanjo are sworn enemies (SaharaReporters) ece-auto-gen

“I don’t believe in what is called negative vote which means, for me, throwing your vote in a wastebasket, I believe instead in a creative vote, not a protest vote, not a negative vote but a creative vote.

“And a creative vote means that the will to at least sow a seed through your vote that will germinate eventually. The pace of germination is beyond the control of everyone, but it is never too early to make a beginning. It has happened before in other societies. When a dark horse emerges from nowhere and trumps all the political juggernauts caterpillars and so on with their performers, worthless, their capacity for violence and treachery.”

In early January, Soyinka warned Nigerians to be wary of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s choice of candidate and compared Abubakar to Lucifer.

Ex President Obasanjo has thrown his weight behind Abubakar, his former vice president.

President Muhammadu Buhari meets with Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka at the Presidential Villa on August 11, 2016 (Presidency) ece-auto-gen

Obasanjo and Soyinka are not exactly the best of friends and have traded bitter words in the media.

The 2019 presidential election

While next month's election is expected to be keenly-contested between Atiku and Buhari, they face competition from other candidates including Kingsley Moghalu of the Young Progressive Party (YPP), Fela Durotoye of the Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN), and Omoyele Sowore of the African Action Congress (AAC).

Others are Tope Fasua of the Abundance Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP), Eunice Atuejide of the National Interest Party (NIP), Adesina Fagbenro-Byron of the Kowa Party (KP), Chike Ukaegbu of the Advanced Allied Party (AAP), Hamza Al-Mustapha of the People's Party of Nigeria (PPN), Obadiah Mailafia of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), and many more.

72 candidates will contest the presidential election, the highest number ever in Nigeria's electoral history.