In view of the forthcoming 2023 general elections, it has been reported that the Northern Elders Forum on Tuesday commended the governors of the region for rejecting rotation of the 2023 Presidency to the south as being clamoured by the Southern Governors Forum.
According to reports, the Spokesman of the NEF, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, disclosed this while speaking at a press conference in Kaduna on Tuesday, adding that the demand by the Southern Governors on the 2023 Presidency as unacceptable.
The spokesman further disclosed that the southern governors constituted a threat to the nation’s democracy with their demand.
According to him, “We had raised the issues two weeks ago, but we are happy that the Northern Governors have also spoken out that rotational presidency is not located in the constitution of Nigeria, but this does not make it illegal, or only means that it can only be handled at the political level.”
He stated that, “We drew attention to the fact that there are tendencies that the 17 Governors of the South to gang up and create a bi-partisan assault against the North on virtually all issues from open grazing, rotational presidency and other issues.”
He added that, “The Southern Governors represent a serious threat to the democratic process. What the democratic process recognises is that there are political parties, there are candidates and there are voters. Whoever emerges as the candidate should be the product of negotiation and expression of popular will.”
He opined that, “There can be a Southern president; there can be a Northern president and nobody should build boundaries around which region produces the President. What is important is that it must be a committed and a very competent Nigerian; a Nigerian everybody can identify with and not a product of region, religion or tribe.”
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