ABUJA – Consensus continues to build on the need for the rotation of the 2023 presidency to the Southern part of the country particularly South East. Senator Shehu Sani, former senator representing Kaduna Central senatorial zone in the 8th Assembly has added his voice urging political parties particularly the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress, APC to respect the feelings and mood of the nation and zone its presidential slot to the South.
Speaking on Channel TV Tuesday morning Senator Sani called on President Muhammadu Buhari to put the unity of the country above every other consideration by giving every part of the country a sense of equal ownership of the nation called Nigeria. Sani told Buhari that as the leader of the ruling party in the country he has the responsibility to ensure that his party, the APC recognises every part of the country as equal partners in Nigeria by giving the South particularly the South-East East the chance to produce the next president of the country. According to him, since 1999, the North had ruled Nigeria twice in Shehu Yar’Adua and Muhammadu Buhari and the South West, eight years in Olusegun Obasanjo while the South South, six years in Goodluck Jonathan. He said, morality, equity and sense of equal recognition therefore demand that the South East be allowed to also have a stake in the presidency of Nigeria.
Sani maintained that the only way power can go to the South is for the major political parties, the People’s Democratic party PDP and APC to zone their presidential slots to the South. He insisted that it’s a a clear lack of sincerity for one of the parties to pick a candidate from the North while believing that another with a candidate from the South could still win.
Making a case for South East, Sani also noted that you cannot continue to promote marginalisation of a section of the people and expect protests and agitation to stop, saying “if my own part of the country is marginalised, I will join the protest too.” According to him, if you have a system that takes care of educationally backward states, why can’t the same system be applied to politically disadvantaged states like the South East, he argued.
He emphasised further saying, “if one part of a country can be given special consideration on quota basis why not same consideration be given to another part that has been denied an opportunity to have a shot at the presidency too all this while.”
He, however, reasoned that the greatest legacy that Buhari should leave behind is to preserve the unity of Nigeria by allowing power shift to the South, particularly the South East.
Recall that the Southern governors forum, South East forum and other regional bodies like Ohaneze, Afenifere etc.are all united in their demands that power should shift to the South.