Former Zamfara State governor and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Sani Ahmad Yarima, has said he's determined to rule the country and no individual or groups can stop him from doing so.
Yarima who stated this in an interview with Tribune, said neither the Nigerian constitution, party constitutions, or international politics supports acquisition of power by allocation, as he takes aim at Southern Governors who are demanding that power be zoned to the South.
He therefore, said "every Nigerian who is qualified based on the qualification that is enshrined in the constitution should aspire for any office in the land: Governor, State Assembly, National Assembly," and that the responsibility of deciding who becomes President rests will the electorates.
Speaking on whether he would still consider contesting in the 2023 presidential election, despite the position of Southern Governors, he said, "As far as I am concerned, my constitution, both party and national, has not barred me from contesting for Presidency. So, no statement of any group can stop me.
"But, you see, if tomorrow my party comes up and says we have zoned Presidency to the South, I, Yarima, will follow it. I will then know that it is a decision, legally and lawful that is binding on all members of the party. But, so long as the constitution is still saying citizens of Nigeria and APC Constitution is saying citizens of Nigeria, I am a citizen of Nigeria and I am going to contest."
On whether he would consider sacrificing his ambition for a southern candidate for the sake of peace and unity of the country, he said, "You see we are Nigerians and I believe citizenship is very important. I pray that one day, we will become like America, United Kingdom, France where citizenship overrides all other considerations: ethnic, religious, tribal.
"All these things are because we don’t take that citizenship as we are supposed to. Voters are supposed to determine, not me, not you, not any regional governor. Voters will determine who they want to elect. Every Nigerian citizen should come out with something that he is going to offer to the people and sell himself or herself.
"The person can say this is what I have for education, housing, infrastructural provision, human development and so on. Then, people will compare and see who, between Mr. A and B, is supposed to be our President. It is not regional.
"Let me ask you one question: Let us say we zone to Rivers State, even within Rivers you see people saying that is Ijaw, that is this, and that. Is it politics? The Constitution is very clear; people are politically illiterate because they don’t read the Constitution; even if they read, they read because of personal and selfish interests, that they want to acquire power by allocation. It is not done in politics.
"People should be allowed to go and contest, present themselves, offer what they want to offer to the nation and Nigerians will decide and see who is going to be our best President. So is not by allocation, zoning or no zoning that is not an issue. As far as I am concerned, it is democracy and democracy has some principles and practices that have to be followed," he added.