“Why Buhari swept northeast”

Borno South Senator Ali Ndume has explained how tthe relative peace in the North East contributed to the high number of votes President Muhammadu Buhari got in the area in Saturday’s presidential election.

Mr Ndume, a member of the APC, stated this on Thursday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, while speaking with State House Correspondents shortly after a visit to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

He said, however, that he had a higher expectation than what the party got in the North East.

The North East Director of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council said the postponement of the election negatively affected the turnout of voters in the area.

“First of all, let me say that in 2015, we delivered close to half a million votes for the president in Borno; giving him up to 95 percent.

“I was thinking that we were going to improve on that; I was looking at 97 percent and this time around, we had 836, 496; it is okay, but I was expecting much more than that, to be frank.

“The postponement actually contributed in the reduction in turnout; so I was surprised when the PDP presidential candidate was talking about Borno.

“Last time, in Borno, we gave the president half a million; this time around we gave over 800; because we have more relative peace; in 2015, most of us were scattered all over the country, even outside as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

“This time around I was able to go and vote in my Local Government Area (LGA); I slept in my area; the last time, in 2015, we held our election in IDP camps and turn out that number of vote; this time around we went home to vote with our people and turn out the number,’’ he said.

Ndume expressed optimism that the turnout of voters would be higher in the governorship election in Borno as APC would win with a landslide.

The former Senate leader said APC already has 64 APC Senators and is still hoping for more, adding that the party would not repeat its previous mistake in the Senate.

“When you make a mistake, you use that mistake to improve the future; we are going to have a very good 9th assembly by God’s grace.

“This time, the party will play its role; we have learned from the mistake we made last time; we are not going to repeat that mistake,’’ he said.