The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has given the condition under which they can support zoning presidency to the South in 2023.
According to the group, for the north to back the southern governors’ demand for the 2023 presidency, southerners must give a convincing reason and offer the right candidate.
The spokesman of NEF, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, while speaking on Channels TV recently, said: “Southerners will have to convince the northerners on what they stand to benefit if they shift power to the south.
“You read in between the lines of their well-crafted communique that says that they want basically a southern presidency. It is not wrong. That means the North needs to yield the presidency to the southern part of the country. There is nothing wrong with that.
“The problem is the manner it is being pursued this time by people who were elected on the basis of the constitution, who understand that politics is about getting up and convincing people rather than just sitting down and say ‘we want this, we want that.’ That’s wrong.”
He added: “Two, they must know that the manner they are doing this, not what they are looking for, but the manner in which they are doing it is likely to cause more problems for them than solve the problems.
“But the problem is to get the North to say, ‘Ok, show us why it is better. Show us why a southern presidency is the best for the North and the rest of Nigeria.’ This is a democratic country. Citizens vote. Nigerians, irrespective of where they are, will vote. Political parties have to do the hard work.”
The statement of Baba-Ahmed is in reaction to the Southern Governors Forum recent meeting’s resolution in Lagos that the South should not be stopped from producing the president of Nigeria in 2023.
