A Coalition of Youth Groups in the ruling All Progressives Congress has accused Northern governors of not doing anything to develop their respective states saying this has plunged the region into untold hardships.
According to them, the governors’ failure has led to challenges including banditry, kidnapping, robbery, poverty, unemployment, and other social vices.
The groups, under the aegis of APC Progressives Youth Elements and North East Youth Forum of APC, made this allegation while protesting against the eleven northern governors’ decision on power shift to the southern part of the country.
The youths who carried placards with various inscriptions said that the power must not be shifted to the southern part, noting that the northern governors were selfish in their positions even when, according to them, the north is left behind in the scheme of things.
Some of the placards had inscriptions like: “It’s North or Nothing”, “we are not in support of power shift to south”, “we will not accept the decision of 11 governors”, “it’s their selfish interest”, among others.
The youths stated that if the APC wants to remain in power beyond 2023, it must allow a northern candidate to emerge in other to be able to match the candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
Addressing journalists during the protest held in Bauchi, Chairman of the APC Progressives Youth Elements, Al-Amin Mai’Auduga, stressed that the Northern governors did not consult wider before reaching the decision they announced on Saturday.
“We, the Northern youths do not think it is time for any southerner to assume the mantle of power. We are not in support of the decision (of the northern governors) because it is against our political wish for 2023. The Northern Governors just sat down and took the decision for the entire people of the North. They are on their own”.
“It is in their selfish interest, the Northern youths who are about 70 percent of the total population of the country are saying no. We are calling on our able National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu to weigh into this and find a lasting solution to this. We are not going to support any southern candidate.
“These 11 governors that made the decision are not the only people in the North. They are doing it on their own selfish interests,” he said.
Also speaking, Ibrahim Abdullahi, the leader of the APC Youth Forum, alleged that the governors opted for such an option to probably benefit from being appointed as vice president.
He lamented that with the hunger, insecurity, and poverty in the region, power needed to be retained for development. “We will not endorse any candidate from the South, except from the North. We are far left behind,” he lamented.
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