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Arewa Wants the North to Rule Beyond 2023, Afenifere Says Igbo Presidency is Sacrosant

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has said there is no national consensus that is binding on the north to cede power in 2023 when President Muhammadu Buhari would have exhausted his constitutionally allowed two terms in office.

Along the same line, the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) said the south should allow the north to rule beyond 2023 for “justice, equity and fairness” to reign.

Both prominent northern groups said these in separate interviews with Nigerian Tribune.

“I say there is no national consensus on rotation and zoning that is binding on political parties. There is no such national consensus. Muhammadu Buhari would not have contested against President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003 and former president Goodluck Jonathan would not have contested against Buhari in 2011 and in 2015,” the secretary general of the ACF, Anthony Sani, told Tribune.

According to Sani, since political parties were allowed to field presidential candidates from different regions in the last general elections, nothing stops the north from contesting power after Buhari must have completed his two terms in office.

On his part, the president of CNG, Shettima Yarima, argued that the south had ruled the country for 15 years since the return of democracy in 1999.

Shetima said the north had only ruled for 5 years and should be allowed to continue after 2023 for fairness.

“Even by the time Buhari completes his eight-year tenure, the North would have ruled for nine years. And if we cede power to the South in 2023 they would now have ruled for 24 years or more if they are to leave in 2027.

“For justice, equity and fairness, the North should be allowed to rule beyond 2023 even if it is for one term. We can now partner or form a strong alliance with the southeast for them to produce the president in 2027,” he said.

But speaking on the region that should produce the next president, the leader of Afenifere, the Yoruba apex socio-cultural group,  Ayo Adebanjo said anyone that loves the country would agree that the south east deserves the presidency in 2023.

“You talk about unity, that is where you will know where the sincerity lies. If you are keen about unity, will there be a unit of the country that you will deprive presidency? What does that mean for unity?” Adebanjo was quoted by ThisDAY to have said.

“We are talking about people who want Nigeria to stay together. How can anybody who loves this country talk of the presidency coming to the South-west in 2023. That’s why I tell you all these people are not serious, including Buhari. Why should you exclude the South-east? Is South-east not part of Nigeria?

“South-west has had, South-south has had, the North has had, why exclude the South-east if you want them to be there? That is the point I was making earlier on,” he said.

Meanwhile, the presidency had recently dismissed reports that President Muhammadu Buhari was nursing a plan to remain in office more than two terms in office.

“There are no circumstances – nor a set of circumstances – under which President Buhari may seek to amend the Constitution regarding the two-term term limit on holding office as President,” Buhari’s media aide, Garba Shehu, had said in statement on Monday.

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