TheCable

Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president, says there is no provision for zoning political offices in Nigeria’s constitution.

The chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) spoke at a meeting with a group calling on him to run for president in 2023.

Atiku who is yet to officially join the 2023 presidential race, said the country’s challenges makes him “wonder if to go for it (contest) or not”.

“Leadership is endowed by God. You can have a young man come and do better than an old man,” he said.

“So, it is an endowed attribute from God, therefore, we should try to look for such a person who has been endowed by God, who has those attributes and then give him leadership.

“I have never seen; this country has so many challenges at the same time. So, sometimes, when I am on my bed, I begin to wonder whether to go for it (contest) or not because the challenges are just too many. In my life, I have never seen Nigeria in such a bad situation.

“As far as the unity of this country is concerned, we are more divided. Even when we fought the civil war, we were never as divided as this. We never have a breakdown of law and order like this because when we fought the civil war, it was confined to a particular location, in every other place, there was peace.

“We never had this kind of poverty where even the farmer cannot go to farm the food to eat, not to talk of commercial farming.

“So, I have never seen this country so bad, and it is going to be a daunting task for anybody to come and turn things around.”

Speaking on zoning, Atiku said there is nothing in the constitution that prohibits anyone from any region from running for president.

“Fundamentally, the constitution says all of us can run,” he said.

“The constitution has not barred any one of us. There is no zoning in the constitution; there is none.

“I was a member of the constituent assembly that drafted the current constitution and there was nothing like that.”