Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, on Monday, shunned calls for zoning and the quest that power return to the South next year as he announced that he has begun consultations for the 2023 Presidency.
Socio-political groups including Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Pan Niger Delta Forum and the Middle Belt Forum had insisted that power moved to the South in 2023 after the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), who is from Katsina State.
The groups had declared that political parties that field northern presidential candidates won’t enjoy their support in the 2023 general elections.
But on Monday, Tambuwal, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria from 2011 to 2015, said he would begin nationwide consultations to run for the exalted office in Aso Villa, according to a statement by the governor’s Special Adviser Media and Publicity, Muhammad Bello.
The statement was titled, ‘2023: Tambuwal Kickstarts Consultations On Presidential Bid’.
Tambuwal, the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Governors’ Forum, was quoted as saying, “I have listened to our party leaders, women and youths on the call that I should initiate and begin the process of consultations with a view of running and contesting for the President of Nigeria under the banner of our great party.”
“When members of the House of Representatives of the 7th Assembly approached with their desire for me to contest for the position of Speaker, I gave them certain conditions, one of which was that I have leaders – late President Shehu Shagari, former Governor Aliyu Wamakko and two others in (Sokoto) state.
“I told them to go to my state and consult with these leaders. If they bless your initiative, I will accept your proposal and contest for the Speaker.
“When they came to Sokoto, President Shehu Shagari of blessed memory admonished them that: ‘if you are putting our son forward as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, your efforts must not be sectional or religious,” he stressed.
Several presidential hopefuls have emerged from the Southern region in the last few days including All Progressives Congress National Leader, Bola Tinubu; media personality, Dele Momodu; former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Pius Anyim; Governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi; ex-Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha; former Governor of Abia State and Majority Whip of the Senate, Senator Orji Kalu; former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Kingsley Moghalu, among others.
A few northerners including former Senate President Bukola Saraki; ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; and former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, — all of the PDP — have been reported to nurse presidential ambitions but while Saraki had declared intention to run, Kwankwaso and Atiku are yet to publicly declare the intention to run.
Though party primaries that would lead to the emergence of candidates are expected to hold later in the year, permutations, political bickering and serial defections continue as the race for who succeeds Buhari gets intense, while Nigerians wait with bated breath to see who would occupy the exalted office in Aso Rock in 2023.
Copyright PUNCH.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: [email protected]
