Soyinka: I didn’t support Buhari in 2015 — but I said Nigerians shouldn’t vote for Jonathan

Wole Soyinka, Nobel laureate, says he did not ask Nigerians to vote for President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.

Soyinka spoke on Thursday at a media briefing in Lagos.

During the build-up to the 2015 presidential election, the Nobel laureate, on several occasions, criticised the administration of the former President Goodluck Jonathan.

In 2015, TheCable reported that Soyinka said he would not advise anyone to vote for Jonathan, while questioning the re-election bid of the former president.

Speaking at the media briefing, the Nobel laureate said despite criticising Jonathan, he never supported the candidacy of Buhari in 2015.

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

“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.”