*Backs Power Shift To South, Weighs In On Tinubu’s Eligibility To Contest
The seeming grip of the former Northern Region on the Nigerian power complex has continued to be an albatross, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has said.
Lawal, a long-time confidant of President Muhammadu Buhari, and who had served as the first SGF to the Government of President Buhari affirmed this in a recent media chat.
“By the way, what did we get from several years of governance with the Presidency being from the North? Since the demise of General Sani Abacha, the country has been into crises of insecurity and poor economy.
“Along the line, we have also had vice-presidents who were northerners. We have had presidents who were northerners but for whatever reason, the system is not improving. Presidency from the North is like an albatross around our neck,” the ex-SGF asserted.
He therefore urged Buhari to support power rotation to the South to enable the emergence of his successor from the region.
“A just and equitable way of doing things is to agree, as gentlemen, that since the North has had its President for the second tenure, the opportunity should be given to the South to produce the next President,” he said.
On rumours of moves to prevent the All Progressives Congress, APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, from contesting the 2023 Presidency, Lawal said that that would be unfair.
He also canvassed power shift to the South, and notably the South-West, expressing dismay at some notable northerners who continued to desire and canvass that the Presidency be retained in the North.
Accusing some APC governors of fuelling the crisis in the party so they could take control for their own selfish political purposes, Lawal said the overall goal of the politicians was to undo the current structure under the President, Muhammadu Buhari.
He said it was laughable if the objective of the politicians, who he alleged to have masterminded the removal of the former party chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, was to oppose Tinubu’s alleged presidential aspirations.
Lawal stated: “Those who wanted Adams Oshiomhole out are more desperate because of 2023 because as a national chairman of a party, from my own observation, there’s very little he could do to favour or impose a presidential candidate in his party.
“Except we want to bring the wrath of God on our heads, because of his role in building the party, equity and a sense of justice demands that he be given a chance in a free and fair system and let his luck prevail.
“Nobody with a clear conscience in the APC will deny Tinubu the opportunity to contest the Presidency. Nobody within the party has the moral right to even put a stumbling block on his path. The party must create an environment that is free and fair for anybody who wants to contest, including Bola Tinubu. Let the delegates, who must have emerged through a similarly free and fair process, decide who they want to vote for.”
