Willy Eya, Desmond Mgboh, Vincent Kalu, Tunde Thomas, Chinelo Obogo, Fred Itua, Sunday Ani and Romanus Okoye
Prominent Nigerians and groups have lambasted the North for plotting to retain power and produce President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor in 2023.
On Tuesday, Daily Sun exclusively published a story on a plot by power brokers in the North to ensure that one of their own succeeds President Buhari at the end of his second tenure in 2023.
The report attracted flak from many Nigerians, who criticised the North for being selfish and insensitive to the feelings of other regions.
Afenifere, the apex Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, cautioned that Nigeria was a country of many ethnic nationalities and a particular group could not be allowed to ride roughshod over others.
National publicity secretary of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, said when the time was ripe, Nigerians would come together to confront the situation but noted that the report that the North was pushing to retain power in 2023 was still in the realm of speculation.
Another socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, said, if the North wanted power to remain in the North, it would be the height of selfishness and insensitivity to the feelings of other Nigerians.
National publicity secretary of Ohanaeze, Uche Okpaga, said: “We have thrown expertise and ingenuity to the dustbin; if we continue like that, Nigeria will be like a stationary machine.”
In its reaction, the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) said it was not a political party or organisation to pursue any political ambition in Nigeria, and it was not interested in Nigeria anymore.
Media and publicity secretary of the group, Comrade Emma Powerful, said: “We are not hoping to produce any President of Nigeria because that is not our mission. Our mission is to restore Biafran sovereignty and independence, nothing more and nothing less.”
However, former governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, said it was just a few northerners clamouring for power in 2023 for their selfish interests.
He said: “They do not have the interest of the country at heart. They are unreasonable and they are equally disuniting the country the more, because this power shift between the North and the South is, first and foremost, to take care of North-South dichotomy.”
Niger Delta activist and coordinator of the Ijaw Monitoring Group, Comrade Joseph Evah, said any plot or attempt by the North to retain power beyond 2023 was unacceptable.
“It would be counter-productive to Nigeria’s unity. The cabal behind such (an) evil plot should be checkmated now. Those behind such a plot don’t love Nigeria. The principle of zoning should be strictly adhered to. It should be respected,” he said.
For the national publicity secretary of the Middle Belt Leaders Forum, Dr. Dogo Isuwa, the ballot box and the decision of Nigerians would determine the outcome of the election.
He said Nigerians would decide who wins the 2023 election through the ballot box.
National president of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, Alhaji Yerima Shettima, has said that nobody or group had the constitutional right to stop the North from fielding a presidential candidate in 2023.
“The beauty of democracy is the rule of law and the Nigerian Constitution does not restrict any area or region from having a candidate in a general election.
Any political party that fails to field a candidate from the North would blame itself after the election because the North would use their numerical strength to determine the outcome democratically,” he said.
Meanwhile, elder statesman, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, enjoined Nigerians to cast away their fears that the North was plotting to retain power beyond 2023, saying this fear as expressed by some Nigerians in the southern part of the country was unfounded and untrue.
The Second Republic politician, in a telephone conversation, dismissed the insinuation that the recent power play in the Presidency was part of a plot by the North as an entity to retain power beyond the Buhari years, while saying that he had not seem any tangible proof to support the suggestion.
Yakassai also declared that it was wrong for Nigerians to appropriate the actions or inactions of an individual northerner as that of the whole North, adding that whatever decision President Buhari decided to employ in his relationship with his deputy was out of his free will and judgement.
“The North has 55 per cent of the population of this country. One man from the North can’t speak and his views will be taken as the views of the entire North. It’s wrong. Buhari didn’t speak for the North and his actions don’t represent the North. He’s just one man. We should separate these things and save the unity of this country.
“When Buhari ran for election, he didn’t win the entire North. The man who ran against him was from the North too. They divided the votes. If Buhari couldn’t win the entire North, does that not tell you that his views or actions don’t represent that of the North?
“President Buhari is on his own, he is a northerner but his action does not represent the North.”
In relation to where power would reside after 2023, Yakassai maintained that a lot would depend on the political parties and the candidates they would present to Nigerians, adding that, from the way things are today, it did not seem that the two leading political parties would present candidates from the same section or geopolitical zone.
He reasserted his position for all the sections and regions of the country to have the opportunity to produce the President of Nigeria on a rotational basis, while restating his previous comment on the subject matter that, “South East is a part of Nigeria. It is high time the South East produced the President of Nigeria.”
Another northern leader, Ango Abdullahi, in his reaction, said politicians should intervene and speak more on the issue. He declined further comments.
He said: “Afenifere has an interest and it is expected that they will respond the way they have done. I have no interest at all. It is a political matter and politicians should be ones talking anonymously on these issues. Since I am no longer the spokesman for Northern Elders Forum, I can’t speak for them. As a person, I don’t want to get involved.”