By Gbenga Abulude
Kaduna state Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai has bared his mind on the contentious presidential zoning debate.
El-Rufai said he favours the argument, canvassing that the next president of Nigeria should come from the south.
He was reacting to a comment credited to Mamman Daura, a nephew to President Muhammadu Buhari. Daura had told the BBC Hausa Service that it was better for competence to prevail over zoning in making the choice for the next president.
Read also: I Don’t Dictate To Buhari, Mamman Daura Speaks On Presidential Pally
The comment had drawn harsh criticisms from socio-ethnic groups as Nigerians continue to ruminate on Daura’s controversial position.
El-Rufai who spoke on Saturday, also in an interview with BBC Hausa Service said he will not support a northerner to succeed President Buhari in 2023.
He also stated that he was not after being the next president of Nigeria.
The Governor said the idea of rotating the presidency was based on the country’s political arrangement and does not necessarily need to be constitutional.
“In Nigerian politics, there is a system of rotation, in which everyone agrees that if the north rules for eight years, the south will rule for eight years,” he said.
El-Rufai continued: “That is why I came out and said that after President Buhari has been in office for eight years, no northerner should run for office. Let the Southerners also have eight years.
“For me, the eligibility I look at is if who is entrusted to the public will hold it properly. I don’t take anyone to work with me for the zone he came from.
“It has been said that I have loved the presidency since I was a minister in the FCT. This is nonsense. I do not want the Nigerian presidency. God gives power, whether you like it or not, if He wants it, He will give it to you, but I have never sought the presidency of Nigeria, no one can say I have ever sought it.”
