The Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere and the Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF) have engaged in heated arguments over which region should produce the country’s next president.
The NEF, on Tuesday rejected the call for power rotation by the Southern Governors, commending the Northern governors for speaking against it.
The spokesman of NEF, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, who addressed a press conference in Kaduna on Tuesday described the insistence on power rotation to the South by the Southern Governors as unconstitutional and a threat to the country’s democracy.
Baba-Ahmed stated that the constitution of Nigeria does not make provision for zoning of power, saying any attempt to intimidate the whole country into voting a particular region is unconstitutional.
In his words, “We had raised the issues two weeks ago, but we are happy that the Northern Governors have also spoken out that. Rotational presidency is not located in the constitution of Nigeria, but this does not make it illegal, or only means that it can only be handled at the political level.
“We drew attention to the fact that there are tendencies the 17 Governors of the South to gang up and create a bi-partisan assault against the North on virtually all issues from open grazing, rotational presidency and other issues.
“The Southern Governors represent a serious threat to the democratic process. What the democratic process recognises is that there are political parties, there are candidates and there are voters. Whoever emerges as the candidate should be the product of negotiation and expression of popular will.”
However, Afenifere has knocked the Northern Governors for rejecting zoning of power to the South.
The group insisted that Nigeria’s next President should come from the Southern part of the country.
Afenifere also assured the southern Governors of their support on the issue of the Value-Added Tax (VAT) collection and ban on open grazing.
Afenifere made this known after a meeting which held in Ogun state on Tuesday.
This was also made available in a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting and signed by its spokesman, Jare Ajayi.
The communiqué reads in part, “The meeting also deliberated on the Resolutions of the Northern Governors that took place in Kaduna on Monday, September 27, 2021.
“It is a known fact that Afenifere strongly stands by the Southern Governors in their resolution on anti-grazing laws, on Value Added Tax and on a person of Southern extraction becoming the President of Nigeria in 2023.
“We note with delight, the court judgment that empowers the states to collect VAT. We urge states governments to further explore more areas to deepen democracy and enhance the frontier of true federalism in Nigeria.”
