A socio-political organisation under the aegis of United for Better Nigeria Initiative on Wednesday called on the Northern Elders Forum and other Northern elders to endorse a credible presidential aspirant from the South-East geopolitical as a consensus candidate in the spirit of inclusiveness and representational justice.
The organisation was reacting to the controversy surrounding the consensus arrangement by some Peoples Democratic Party aspirants from the North, which favoured a former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State.
The consensus arrangement was piloted by the chairman of the NEF, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, for which Governor Aminu Tambuwal and Mohammed Hayatudeen have kicked against it.
But the group, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Nkoli Mkparu, said that the Northern elders should consider the rich credentials of a former Senate President and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim, who has been a loyal member of the PDP.
She also urged the Northern elders to join the pan-Yoruba social-cultural group, Afenifere in the search for a President of South-East extraction.
Mkparu cautioned that having another President from the Northern region would further marginalize Nigerians of South-East extraction, adding that the region had at different times supported a Northern candidate to assume the nation’s number one position.
While faulting the arrangement, she stressed that the Northern elders should look beyond their region for a good Presidential candidate in 2023.
According to her, the unity and harmonious co-existence of interest groups within Nigeria should be considered in the overall interest of the country.
The statement read, “The NEF and other Northern elders should in the spirit of inclusiveness engage aspirants from the South East zone and declare support for anyone who meets their criteria. Nobody can become President by being popular only in his geo-political zone. Therefore, leaders and opinion moulders from other geo-political zones should concede the 2023 slot to the North and announce their preferred candidate(s).
“Anyim has remained a loyal member of the PDP from inception. His commitment through good and bad times has seen him become a member of the party’s Board of Trustees, national caucus, and the National Executive Committee. He has also served as a member of the PDP’s Reconciliation Committee and had once declared his interest to become the chairman of the Party. He ran a principled campaign and enjoyed the support and endorsements of party members across the country.
“However, a consensus agreement reached to zone the chairmanship to another geopolitical zone (other than his), prevented him from clinching the party’s top job.”
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