The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party took a different dimension on Wednesday as former Governor of Ekiti state, Ayodele Fayose declared his support for a southerner to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.
Fayose, a member of the PDP, said the south must produce the next president in a bid to allow for equity and fairness.
The governor who contested during the presidential primary election of the PDP argued that the party’s constitution allowed for rotational presidency, adding that Buhari who is a Northerner would have completed the maximum number of eight years by 2023.
Fayose made this call on his official Twitter handle on Wednesday.
Though he failed to clarify the actual candidate he will declare his support for in 2023, The New Diplomat reports that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC); Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP); Babajide Sowore of the African Action Congres (AAC) are among the Southern candidates contesting in the forthcoming presidential election.
He tweeted: “The PDP Constitution provides for a rotational Presidency. Section 3(c) provides that the Party shall pursue its aims & objectives by adhering to the policy of the rotation & zoning of Party & Public elective offices in pursuance of the principle of equity, justice and fairness.
“The current President of Nigeria is a 2-term Northern Presidency, thus implying that it MUST be a Southern Presidency in 2023 or NOTHING. Awa ‘South’ lo kan’.”
The former governor asked Nigerians to “await details soon”.
However, Fayose’s declaration means the presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku, who hails from the northeast state of Adamawa is indeed in fresh trouble as he hopes to succeed Buhari after several failed attempts in the past elections.
