Former Governor of Kano State, Ibrahim Shekarau, has said
that the 17 Southern Governors should stop “ganging up” and “issuing threats”
to get the 2023 Presidential slot.
Shekarau, who represents Kano Central District in the
Senate, stated this on Monday while featuring on Channels Television’s ‘Sunrise
Daily’ breakfast programme.
The All Progressives Congress chieftain said that the next
President after the incumbent, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), should
come from the Southern region of the country to give “a sense of belonging” to
every Nigerian.
He also noted that the APC should zone its presidential
ticket to a capable and credible candidate in the South in the next election
which is about 18 months from now.
The two-term governor and former Minister of Education,
however, knocked the Southern Governors for “ganging up” to demand Presidency
in 2023.
As the 2023 general elections draw nearer, there have been
intense political posturing, permutations and fireworks. The 17 Southern
Governors had met twice in the year and demanded power shift to their region
while the 19 Northern Governors also met last week, opposing such move and
noting that the candidate with the highest votes will emerge as President in
the next general elections.
Speaking on the television programme, Shekarau lamented that
it was very unfortunate that the issue of zoning has degenerated to a point
where democracy has been reduced to “regional gang-up”.
The Senator knocked the Southern Governors for their various
meetings and “gang ups”, saying they should desist from instigating other
groups in the country from making similar demands that would heat up the
polity.
He said that the Southern Governors should make intra-party
consultations and discussions, rather than make public declarations.
Shekarau said, “As far as the party I belong is concerned,
the APC, my proposal is that now that President Buhari is from the northern part
of the country and (after) he has done his eight years, let beam the
searchlight to the southern part of Nigeria, not because we don’t have
competent people in the north…that does not mean you are throwing away the
issue of competence, credibility and so on.
“While I agree we should go for the best and therefore throw
it open, regardless of which part of the country, but we must also be mindful
of the aspect of the sense of belonging. We must be mindful of perception, to
give some sense of belonging to every part of Nigeria.
“Where I disagree with the Southern Governors is coming
together to gang up to say it must be our turn. I think this is purely a party
affair.”
Continuing, he said, “We must not do this at the point of
threat, that it must be me, it must be he, we need to come together. This is
more of a political party issue.
“My point of disagreement with the gang up groups like the
Southern Governors is coming to gang up to say it must be our time, this is
wrong, it is purely (a) party issue and the political parties should go into
the boardrooms and sort this issue out themselves.”
“Today, the Southern Governors gang up, tomorrow, another
group would gang up and say it must be us,” he said.
“Governors are very prominent people in the scheme of
things, they are leaders, so, they must be careful coming together to make some
pronouncement that would amount to instigating the general public to take a
stand and see it as a regional fight,” Shekarau added.
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