I didn’t ask Nigerians to vote for Buhari, I only said they shouldn’t vote for Jonathan — Wole Soyinka

Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka has said he never endorsed the candidacy of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.

Mr Soyinka, during a press conference in Lagos on Thursday, said he didn’t even vote on election day in 2015.

“It is false to say that I supported the election of Buhari,” Premium Times quoted him to have said. The news platform reported that Soyinka added that what he said at the time was “do not vote for Jonathan.”

The professor said it is his fundamental right to vote for any candidate of his choice, and if the person fails, he is entitled to say it.

Amidst the economic hardship and insecurity across the country, a lot of Nigerians have lambasted Mr Soyinka for contributing to the emergence of Mr Buhari as president.

The Nobel laureate was a staunch critic of the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

In the run-up to the 2015 general election, he, however, distanced himself from media reports claiming he endorsed a presidential or governorship candidate.

“All such attributions are fabrications by faceless, often self-appointed agents of deception, and should be publicly pilloried,” Mr Soyinka had said in a statement in January 2015.

“Whenever I choose to declare support for a candidate – as is my electoral right – I shall ensure that I deploy a medium that places my authorship beyond dispute. Internet habitues, Social networks etc are urged to be less gullible, and avoid becoming cheap conduits for the deception industry.”