..says power must shift to South-East
BY NONYE JULIET EKWENUGO
Kaduna
Arewa Concerned Civil Society Organisations of Nigeria (ACCSON) has said that Presidency is not a birth right for northern Nigeria, maintaining that power must shift to the South-East come 2023 general election.
The Spokesperson of the group, Comrade Abdulsalam Moh’d Kazeem made this known on Wednesday while addressing a press conference in Kaduna.
“We say No to northern candidate. Presidency is not their birthright, let the South produce a candidate with leadership quality”.
“We have no other country than Nigeria and we will not sit down and see our country disintegrate due to the selfish desires of some individuals that think Presidency is their birth right of a particular region.
“Any Northerner contesting President will be regarded as agent of disunity and enemy of the nation.
“The South West is also a beneficiary of the benevolence of Nigerians who supported their first bid for an 8years Presidency and Vice President for year another 8 years should also be willing to relinquish the position in the spirit togetherness and nation building.
“Our hope, dreams and prayers are for an Igbo man to emerge as President 2023, more preferably, a private sector player, a technocrat and a de-tribalized Nigerian with rich experience in managing economy for peace, progress and prosperity.
“We have agreed to melt their interest in one port and insist on power to be transferred to Southern Part of the Country in 2023 and we call on our Southern people to drive this opportunity and support their own and also respect power rotation after 8 years”.
“We converge here today at Arewa House to write another history of Nigeria where patriotic Northern Youth are calling for Southern candidate.
“This is to sustain our political friendship with people of the Southern Nigeria.
Equity and justice are the bane of development in any sane society. Since the first republic power is being rotated between South and North.
“Unfortunately, in 2007 when the power is shifted to North after two years, God took the life of President Umaru Musa Yar’adua of these has created a vacuum and resulted to so much agitations by Northern stakeholders that North must complete their 8-years term as President Obasanjo did.
“In the heat towards the 2011 elections, many Northern stakeholders agitated that power must return to the North, but for national unity and being Jonathan a minority from oil-rich Niger-Delta region of Nigeria and never produce President of the country, our stakeholders in the North advised to allow him to go for another four years term which will have completed the joined ticket of him and late President Yar’adua.
“In 2015, after realizing President Jonathan isn’t ready to relinquish power, Northerner stakeholders with the support of many progressive Southerners whom believed in Unity and Fairness, Jonathan second bid was truncated, President Muhammadu Buhari elected and will complete his 8 years tenure by 2023”.
“We the Arewa Concerned Civil Society Organizations of Nigeria in the spirit of building our desired nation and our continued existence as an entity, also not jettisoning the principles of power balance and fairness calls for the total support of Presidency to the Southern part of the country”.
