Soyinka Urges Nigerians To Reject Both Buhari And Atiku

Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka says the presidential candidates of
the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) are only worthy of “absolute rejection” as the country
needs a new direction.

He stated this at the Citizen Forum, an interactive session that
was held at the Freedom Park, Lagos, on Thursday.

He also stated that he was open to supporting an “alternative”
candidate.

His words: “It is time for a totally new direction, and when an
alternative emerges, we will give the candidate our backing.

“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.

“I don’t believe in what is called negative vote, which means,
for me, throwing your vote in a waste basket, 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.”