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| Senator Opeyemi Bamidele |
Senators from the southern part of the country under the the Southern Senators Forum (SSF), have thrown their weights behind governors from the region who unanimously agreed on rotational presidency, saying there cannot be a united Nigeria without power rotation.
The Forum in a statement by its chairman, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele on Wednesday commended the governors for coming out boldly to take the decision which he said is the best political arrangement that can unify the country and correct the fault lines, and would go a long way to address the political challenges confronting the nation.
The governors had through a communiqué released after their meeting in Lagos on Monday among other things reiterated the need for the zone to produce the next president of the country come 2023.
The federal lawmakers opined that allowing the presidency to rotate between the North and the South will naturally quell the secession agenda being propelled by some individuals and groups.
The Ekiti Central senatorial district Senator said, “As much as we believe that competence and not regionalism should be the watchword in who becomes the president of any nation, we need to also be circumspect of our ethnic and political pluralities and think of the best way to further unite us.
“The events of the recent times where insecurity, secession agitations and others have further divided us and became one reality staring all of us in the face, we need to ruminate on how best to resolve these crises in the interest of our nation.
“Nigeria has never been this divided and the current parlous situation that has pushed our country to the verge of collapse necessitated the governors’ decisions and it shouldn’t be seen from the narrow spectrum that they were stoking the fire of disunity or promoting regionalism or ethnicity.
“Rotational presidency will resolve most of the political problems and would naturally ward off secession agenda being promoted by some individuals and groups.”
Meanwhile, the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has said the decision of Southern Governors to pitch its tent on candidates from the South whether or not they have the quality and capacity to rule the country, will not work.
The group which issued the statement by its spokesman on behalf of the CNG, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman on Tuesday, said it does not support power rotation, but will instead support qualified and credible candidates from any part of the country.
It said, “the Southern Governors and their collaborators should not attempt to hoist an incompetent leadership on the nation in the name of rotation.”
According to the statement, “the North will not accept this arrangement and shall be vehemently resisted.
“We specifically warn Kashim Shettima, Nasir El-Rufai and other northern collaborators, of the futility of pursuing their personal exploits for the vice presidency through this impossible battle to hand over our future and the entire North to interests that see a united and numerically superior North as a major political obstacle.”
To this end, the statement warned northern collaborators, “one of whom led, and the other is leading administrations that have acquired the reputation of being the worst in the history of their respective states.”
It noted that “the extent of their collaboration would not go unnoticed, and in the fullness of time, they will be called to account.”