Even as Nigeria approaches 2023, the permutations leading up to the general election are becoming increasingly fascinating. The drama and intrigues are gradually unfolding, as the various political factions fight tooth and nail to defend their own interests.
However, there are signs that the real action is about to begin, and things are only going to grow more explosive in the months ahead.
So, while the country is still divided over whether the Igbos should be president or not, certain powerful socio-political groups in the north are speaking out against the rotating system. They oppose the Southern Governors’ Forum’s proposal that a southerner be elected President in 2023.
They deliberately disregard the reality that the same rotating idea paved the path for President Muhammadu Buhari’s election in 2015. They now seek to sabotage the process, when it is the South’s turn to profit.
They’ve offered numerous reasons why they don’t trust a Southern president, according to them. Find undermentioned a few of these reasons;
The Southern Governors’ Forum is a band against the North
The Coalition of Northern Groups took this stance. They claimed that the recent SGF conference was held to undermine their region. According to them, giving implicit backing to separatist individuals like Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Igboho and then demanding the presidency is unacceptable.
They are concerned that if the south gets power, it will be used against the interests of the north.
The North will not accept any candidate being thrust on the region
It’s incredible that numerous powerful Northern organizations have spoken out against a southern president in 2023. The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), for example, claims that it will not accept the proposal since it amounts to imposition.
This indicates that the south is attempting to impose its candidate on them. According to them, such an idea is unacceptable to the North.
The North would not be blackmailed into giving up an election
The Northern Elders Forum is another Northern organisation that opposes the proposal (NEF). They claim they will not be coerced into handing over an elected post to the South. They used the phrase “yield” as if it were a property to which they have exclusive rights, and the South would have to come and beg to use it for a time.
They have lost sight of the reality that democracy is a game in which all players are on an equal footing. The north and the south are partners on an equal footing, with neither being more significant than the other.
The NEF has also stated that in order for them to consent to a Southern President, the South must engage them and explain how the North would gain if the South is elected.
It goes without saying that, in the opinion of another northern organization, the Arewa Youths Forum (AYF), the South cannot seek power until it has properly addressed separatist restiveness in the area. In other words, the concept of rotating the presidency to the south based on the pre-2015 agreement is dead on arrival unless the south accomplishes that.
