Afenifere, the apex socio-cultural group of the Yoruba people, and the Pan Niger Delta Forum have both stated that the rotation of the Nigerian presidency between the North and the South is not negotiable at this time.
Because of decency, justice, and equity, both groups argued that the President’s position should be relocated to the South by 2023 in order to ensure the continuation of democracy.
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In a separate interview on Sunday, the Secretary General of Afenifere, Sola Ebiseni, stated that the issue of rotating presidency between the North and the South had been reached a consensus at the national level.
He went on to say that a resolution on power shift was passed at the 2014 National Conference.
Afenifere: next president of Nigeria should be from the south
“Since 1999, when the democratic rule was restored in Nigeria, the political culture has been that the office of President of Nigeria is rotated between the North and the South,” Ebiseni explained. As a result of this development, it is clear that the next president of Nigeria should be from the country’s southern region, if only for the sake of equity in the Nigerian federation as a whole.
“For those who claim that because (Umaru) Yar’Adua was unable to complete his eight-year term, and as a result, the North did not receive an additional four years, the argument does not stand up to logic, morality, or equity, especially when the unaccounted 39 years during which the North occupied almost exclusively the leadership of Nigeria are taken into consideration.
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‘We have voiced our support for the Southern Governors’ declaration that the next President of Nigeria should be from the region.’ Following the adoption of that declaration, every governor from the South should be courteous enough to follow the terms of the declaration. The 2014 National Conference also adopted a resolution stating that the presidency of Nigeria should be rotated between the northern and southern regions of the country. “There is a broad national consensus on this.”
PANDEF spokesman Ken Robinson also stated that those who claimed the North possessed the voting strength to remain in power beyond 2023 were not sincere and that they were working against justice, fairness, and equity in the country.
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If you allow the northerners to rule for 30 years, they will want to rule for 30 years because that is human nature; man is a selfish being.” These individuals are well aware of the privileges they have appropriated for themselves under the nepotistic Buhari administration.
This is our opportunity as the people of southern Nigeria to stand firm and remain resolute in our belief that, after eight years of a northern presidency, fairness, justice, and equity demand that the presidency be transferred to the south. That (the power shift) is non-negotiable should be the attitude of the people of the southern part of Nigeria,
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“As we have always maintained, the numbers they are claiming (as evidence of their voting strength) are fictitious. If they do, why aren’t they reflected in school enrollment, in the internally generated revenues of their states, in the VAT collections in the northern states, or in the consumption of electricity in the states, among other measures?
“The solidarity that the governors of the southern states are demonstrating demonstrates that there is a reawakening.” It is the disunity of the South that has allowed them to flourish, according to him.”
