The Area Consultative Forum has said it is a wrong notion for anyone to any longer believe that the country’s presidency is still running on rotational basis.
The Forum stated this as momentum gathers for the 2023 presidential election to determine who will succeed President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Forum stated this in an interview with Sunday Sun newspaper by its Secretary General, Anthony Sani.
Sani told Sunday Sun that he disagrees with the notion in some quarters that power should shift to either South East or South West in 2023, arguing that the best the two zones can do was to work together to produce a president of their choice.
He said: “This is not a matter of insistence by some people that power should remain in the North in 2023 or not, since only political parties are constitutionally allowed to present candidates for elections.
“In the absence of any existing national consensus on rotation of the position of the president between North and South that is binding on the political parties, I believe the political parties are at liberty to design their winning game plans that include where the presidential candidates come from.
“Any group, which hankers for where the president should come from must do so within the political parties.
“In any case, I think it is too early to start the politics of 2023 just immediately after the formation of the cabinet.
“This is capable of distracting attention of the regime from delivering on the promise of democracy.
“More so that the performance of the current regime is expected to inform part of the politics of 2023.
“So, let politicians come together as one people in support of the government until next rounds of elections when they will be expected to go back to the trenches.”
On the speculation that some northern politicians are already scheming to run for the presidency in 2023 as against the general belief that power should shift to the South West, Sani said: “I have told you that there is no national consensus on rotation of the president between regions or among zones.
“You would recall (Muhammadu) Buhari contested against President (Olusegun) Obasanjo in 2003, President (Goodluck) Jonathan contested against Buhari in 2011 and 2015.
“Also, note that there were presidential candidates in 2019 elections from both North and South.
“All these suggest there is no national consensus on rotation of the presidency that is acceptable and binding on the political parties.”
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