By Kolawole Ojebisi
A former Commissioner of Information in Edo State, Kassim Afegbua, has explained why the northern region should shelve their 2027 presidential aspirations till 2031.
Afegbua spoke during his appearance on Prime Time, an Arise Television programme, on Wednesday.
He cited the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s neglect of its constitutional power rotation guideline. The former commissioner accused the PDP of abandoning its principles during the 2023 elections by fielding Abubakar as its presidential candidate.
“If you recall, one of the reasons I canvassed for a Southern presidency in 2023 was because Alhaji Atiku Abubakar decided to change the political narrative of the PDP,” he said.
“Article 7 of its own constitution, Section C, stipulates that there should be a rotation of power.
“In an effort to railroad the polity into presenting an Atiku, seeing him as someone who can defeat the APC, they decided to package him, and since then, the center cannot hold up to now.
“So, when you have that kind of scenario, where a party is not able to follow the normative order of its own constitution by virtue of its own provisions, then you have this kind of scenario of trying to push the political algorithms.” Afegbua added.
Afegbua said the north should allow the southern part of the country to complete its eight years in power.
“For me, I don’t think the North should bother to discuss 2027 for power to be ceded to them.
“The South must be made to complete its eight years, then power would now go to the North.”
Afegbua’s comment came after George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), urged northerners nursing presidential ambition in 2027 to wait until 2031.
Akume, who said there’s no vacancy in Also Rock in 2027, also urged former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar to keep his presidential ambition on ice until Tinubu 2031.
However, Paul Ibe, Atiku’s media adviser, dismissed Akume’s remark, saying his comments were attempts to “kidnap the aspirations of his principal and other northerners”.
The Arewa Consultative Forum, too, has lambasted Akume for making the statement, stressing that it’s too early to be talking of 2027 now.
The Northern group advised the Tinubu administration to focus on how to deliver the dividends of democracy to Nigerians.
