Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, the governor of Ondo State, has mentioned that it was the turn of the southern part of the country to produce the next president.
Similarly, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, declared that the rotational presidency in Nigeria between the north and south was legal and constitutional.
Elder statesman and Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, as well inclined that the two major political parties in Nigeria, APC and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), should allow the Igbo to have the presidency in 2023. Clark accused any southerner who accepts to be a running mate in the 2023 presidential election of unpatriotism.
Senator Abdullahi Adamu, National Chairman of APC and former governor of Nasarawa State, had during the weekend said that the party was yet to zone the presidency to any geopolitical area ahead of 2023, a comment that provoked negative reactions, especially, from the southern part of the country.
But Akeredolu, in a statement stressed the need for the president and the APC leadership to ensure that the southern part of the country produced the next president.
The governor joined the growing number of Nigerians advising not just APC, but also PDP, to ensure that their presidential candidates in the 2023 general election were from the southern part of the country.
The governor stated, “We must not keep our party men and women guessing on the position of the leadership of the party. This is the time to weigh in and take control of the process. No statement must suggest, even remotely, that the party harbors certain sentiments, which may predispose it to consider throwing the contest open. This is, certainly, not the time for equivocation. Equity dictates that we take a stand.”
At the recent APC national convention, which produced a new leadership for the party, Akeredolu said there was an urgent need for the party to be explicit about the zoning of the presidential position.
He stated, “The leadership of the party ensured that the principle of rotational representation guided its decision at the just-concluded convention. The party chairmanship position has gone to the north; all other offices have been filled on this understanding.
“This is the time the leaders of the party must make a categorical statement, devoid of equivocation, on the pattern of succession.
“The party executive committee has fixed a fee for the purchase of the nomination form for the office. It is expected, fervently, that it will proceed to complete the process by limiting the propensities for disagreement to a region for possible micro-management. It is very expedient that we avoid self-inflicted crises before the general election.”
