Despite widespread criticisms that followed series of comments made by the spokesperson of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Hakeem Baba-Ahmed on the protracted issue of zoning of Presidency, the NEF has insisted that the north will not be bullied or threatened into giving into the demands of Southern Governors come 2023.
Speaking during an interview with Arise Television on Tuesday, Baba-Ahmed called out Southern governors for engaging in lazy politics by demanding for positions rather than working for them.
“You can’t compel us to be in the background and the prevailing sentiment want a Southern Presidency which is making it mandatory. We won’t allow that when anyone irrespective of the zone can contest. Nobody is a second-class citizen.
“Allow the democratic process to decide the President. If you allow any zone to play second fiddle, you relegate them. People will make choices and if the citizens choose a Northern President, so be it since it is a democratic process,” the NEF spokesman noted.
He however said negotiation was the way forward, as that would create a platform for Southern governors to convince the North why the Presidency must come from the South.
“Negotiating is the way forward which is why Southern Governors should convince Northerners on why the Presidency must come from the region. Nobody has a monopoly on inciting rhetorics. Whatever the governors say must be in the interest of Nigerians, else, we will respond and do what is in the interest of the North.”
