New Telegraph

2023: North should wait till 2031 –PANDEF

The Pan Niger Delta Forum, (PANDEF) has advised and cautioned politicians from the North, seeking to run for the presidency in 2023 to wait till 2031 for the sake of national harmony and peace.

 

PANDEF, in a statement by her National Publicity Secretary, Ken Robinson and made available to New Telegraph at the weekend, stated that even though everyone has the right to take part in the governance of his/ her country to vote and be voted for but it was equally fundamental to uphold the indispensable principles of fairness, equity, and justice.

 

The statement reads in part: “It is unthinkable that the North should contemplate clutching onto the presidential seat in 2023 at the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s two tenures of eight years.

 

“We consider declarations by some individuals and groups now suddenly opposing the extant practice of rotational zoning of political offices particularly, that of the presidency as unpatriotic and self-serving given the multi-faceted heterogeneity of our country, Nigerians should be critically concerned, not only about the credibility and competence of those aspiring to occupy the highest office.

 

“We must conscientiously ensure that zoning, especially for the office of president and governors, is very well maintained. Besides, PANDEF firmly affirms that no zone of the country is in want of men and women of noble character, acumen, competence, and integrity, to lead Nigeria at this crucial time.

 

 

“To say suddenly, only in 2021, that the presidency should be open to all zones in 2023, amounts to moving the goalpost, in the 87th of a 90-minute game, implying that somebody from Daura, Katsina State, can, again become president of Nigeria in 2023, within the present mood of the country.

 

“PANDEF says a big ‘NO’ to such an attempt to worsen the current bare threads of national cohesion, unity and all-around prosperity.

 

“The North would have completed the statutory eight years by 2023. It is therefore only reasonable and fair that power should rotate to the South as has been the case for twenty-two years of the third republic.

 

Whether the person would emerge from the South-South, South-East or South-West is a matter of different configurations entirely.”

Read Previous

Labour disputes: FG to upgrade Industrial Arbitration Panel to Commission

Read Next

No excuse is acceptable, Kanu must be produced in court on Thursday –Igbo lawyers

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *