Northern APC governors insist on power shift, reject Lawan as consensus candidate
Thirteen governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the north on Monday insisted that the presidential ticket of the party must go to the south.
The governors spoke with state house correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.
Simon Lalong, Plateau state governor and chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, said the president has no anointed presidential candidate.
Lalong said the president directed the governors to meet with the national working committee (NWC) of the party to resolve the issue of a consensus candidate.
He said the northern governors informed the president of their decision to ensure that power returns to the south for the sake of equity and unity of the country.
The Plateau governor said the meeting with the NWC has been slated for 5pm on Monday.
The governors had earlier asked Buhari to look toward the southern presidential hopefuls when considering his pick for the flagbearer of the ruling party in the 2023 elections.
They also asked the northern presidential hopefuls in the APC to withdraw from the race in national interest.
Abubakar Badaru, governor of Jigawa state, was also said to have withdrawn from the race “to contribute to this patriotic quest”.
Reacting on Sunday, Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi state, had said the position of the northern APC governors is non-binding.
The Kogi governor, who is also a presidential hopeful, described the decision as “self-opinion”.
Bello said the development is a “recipe” to further divide the country along ethnic and regional lines.
Meanwhile, Abdullahi Adamu, national chairman of the APC, has reportedly announced Senate President Ahmad Lawan as the consensus presidential candidate for the party.
According to The Nation, Adamu announced the development at the meeting of the party’s NWC in Abuja.
TheCable could not independently verify the claim.
Southern Politicians need to be united and watchful; the offer by the Northern Governors could clear way for emergence of a Northerner as president in 2023, and likely indefinitely. Politics is localized in Nigeria; development in North-West, and South-West has been aided by Presidents from the two zones while North-East, and South-East zones are less developed because Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, and Dr. .Azikwe were the last center political officers from the eastern divide of Nigeria. Lack of adequate development could be responsible for terrorism in the North-East and agitation for separation in the South-East.