Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka has said he never endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari’s candidacy in 2015.
Soyinka, during a press conference in Lagos on Thursday, said he did not vote on election day in 2015.
“It is false to say that I supported Buhari’s election,” he said, adding that what he said at the time was “don’t vote for Jonathan.”
The professor said that it is their fundamental right to vote for any candidate of their choice, and if the person fails, they have the right to say so.
Amid economic hardship and insecurity across the country, many Nigerians criticized Soyinka for helping Buhari emerge as president.
The Nobel laureate was a staunch critic of good luck jonathan management.
However, in the run-up to the 2015 general election, he distanced himself from media reports that he was endorsing a presidential or gubernatorial candidate.
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“All such attributions are fabrications by anonymous, often self-proclaimed, agents of deception, and should be publicly ridiculed,” Soyinka said in a statement in January 2015.
“Every time I decide to declare my support for a candidate, as is my electoral right, I will make sure to deploy a medium that places my authorship beyond any doubt. Internet users, social networks, etc. are urged. to be less gullible and avoid becoming cheap conduits for the deception industry.”
Details later…