Civil Society Organisations have protested against the candidature of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and other aspirants from the North in the 2023 presidential election, describing their ambitions as self-serving and insensitive.
During a protest, yesterday, at Ojota, Lagos State, the CSOs said it was disturbing that after eight years of President Muhammadu Buhari from 2015, who is from the North, Atiku still wants to contest in 2023.
Wielding placards screaming ‘Turaki, please leave 2023 for a younger person’, ‘Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ogun say no to Atiku 2023 agenda’, ‘South West wants a technocrat as president’, ‘Nigeria’s unity is now negotiable’ among others, they sent across their message. They urged the North to support a Southern president in the next general election.
According to the Convener of South West Development Frontier, Olufemi Osabinu, 2023 is a crucial moment that would determine the stability or otherwise of Nigeria’s democracy.
Osabinu added that while the aspiration of Atiku is constitutional, it negates the spirit of power rotation, which, though, does not expressly bar such persons from aspiring to lead the country.
He said: “In the spirit of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), taking into full cognisance the foundations on which this country was built, power needs to shift to the South to show good faith and help to heal the decades-old wounds of the nation, which are getting more pronounced by the day.
“Not only did we find insensitive the quest to retain power in the North, it is also self-serving and unjust that after Buhari would have completed an eight-year term as the President of Nigeria, from the same Northern zone of the country.”
While appealing to Atiku to drop his presidential ambition, Osabinu also reminded politicians canvassing for his presidency to realise that they were trying to perpetuate injustice, which is against the country’s unity.
“This demand of ours is not an attempt to malign the character of any individual, but a patriotic call based on the mood and need of the nation at this critical moment in the life of Nigeria. We believe that Nigeria must get it right, and those who have most benefited from Nigeria must pay back by putting national interest above personal ambition.
“The era of individuals holding god-complex in projecting the belief that they have all the answers to the problems of over 200 million people spread across over 300 ethnic groups is over; the serious business of nation building to compete effectively internationally begins now and we will accept nothing short of this position.”
On his part, Convener of Forum of CSOs, Wole Badmus, also called on political parties to zone their 2023 presidential slots to the Southern part of the country.
“For national unity, progress and stability of the country, there is a need for power to rotate across the two regions in the country. Power should come to an eminently qualified person in the south. We need people that are capable and not people that are active participants in the destruction of the country. We need agile people,” Badmus said.
Spokesman of Southern Nigerian Frontier, Olufemi Lawson, said it is important to inform the country that for the purpose of stability, fairness and justice, the president of Nigeria, come 2023, should emerge from the Southern part of the country.
“It is insensitive for any political party, particularly, the major political parties of PDP and APC to present any candidate from the North as their presidential candidate.”
