A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Barrister Garus Gololo, has warned that the North is too big for the pockets of Southern Govs whom he said cannot force the region to vote for a Southern candidate.
Gololo who made the statement while addressing newsmen in Abuja, said that as far as the north was concerned, no governor could come from the south and ask for their votes.
“We are running a democratic government and any decision of the southern governors over where the next president comes from are basically decisions that will be made by voters exercising their right to choose which candidate they like.
“The southern governors cannot sit down to discuss about the IPOB, bandits, kidnappers and other criminal activities in the country but to come and be discussing how the presidency would come to their region, it is very bad, we the northerners would not accept their decisions,” he said.
Gololo called on Nigerians to focus their mind on who is the best candidate that would move the country forward, adding that they should not listen to any governor from the south, as everything they do is for their selfish interest, and not in the interest of the nation.
Meanwhile, Senators from the southern part of the country under the the Southern Senators Forum (SSF), have thrown their weights behind the decisions of the governors 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 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.
He 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.”