News Editor
…Buhari Supports Sounthern Candidate
The controversy surrounding where the presidency should go to in 2023 for the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC seems to have been finally addressed after northern governors and political leaders in the party agreed to zone the presidency to the south.
The governors and political leaders in a statement issued on Saturday night also pleaded with northern presidential aspirants to withdraw from the race and allow only aspirants from the south to take part in the presidential primary election slated for Monday and Tuesday next week.
The statement reads in part;
“APC governors and political leaders from the northern states of Nigeria today met to review the political situation and to further support our Party in providing progressive leadership amidst our national challenges.
“During our discussions, we welcomed President Muhammadu Buhari’s invitation to governors and other stakeholders to contribute to the emergence of a strong presidential candidate for the APC.
“After careful deliberation, we wish to state our firm conviction that after eight years in office of President Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the APC for the 2023 elections should be one of our teeming members from the southern states of Nigeria.
“It is a question of honour for the APC, an obligation that is not in anyway affected by the decisions taken by another political party.
“We affirm that upholding this principle is in the interest of building a stronger, more united and more progressive country.
“We therefore wish to strongly recommend to President Muhammadu Buhari that the search for a successor as the APC’s presidential candidate be limited to our compatriots from the southern states.
“We appeal to all aspirants from the northern states to withdraw in the national interest and allow only the aspirants from the south to proceed to the primaries.
“We are delighted by the decision of our esteemed colleague, His Excellency, Governor Abubakar Badaru to contribute to this patriotic quest by withdrawing his presidential aspiration.
“The APC has a duty to ensure that the 2023 elections offer a nation-building moment, reaffirming that a democratic pathway to power exists for all who value cooperation and build national platforms.
“This moment calls for the most sober and inclusive approach to selecting our party’s candidate, and we call on all APC leaders to fulfil their responsibility in this regard.”
TMSnews also gathered that president Muhammadu Buhari just like the northern APC governors also supports power shift to the South, a development some political commentators believed could negatively impact the chances of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP which has already elected a Northern candidate for the presidential election.
TMSnews had reported that former vice President Atiku Abubakar last Sunday emerged the flagbearer of the PDP after a keenly contested primary elections in Abuja.
Recall that about 19 aspirants from southern Nigeria are contesting for the ticket, this makes the contest a very tight one by all standard. Prominent among them is the current vice president, Professor Yemi Osibanjo, former Lagos state governor and national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, immediate past Minister of transport, Rotimi Amaechi, Former Akwaibom governor, Godswill Akabio and others.
It is yet to be know if president Buhari has a particular interest amongst the southern aspirants.
