2023: CSOs Kick against Atiku, Other Northern Presidential Aspirants

Sunday Okobi

Ahead of the 2023 general election, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have described the presidential ambition of former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, and other northern presidential hopefuls for the 2023 presidential election as self-serving and insensitive.

The CSOs said it was disturbing that after eight years of a northern president (President Muhammadu Buhari), Atiku and others are still nursing the ambition to contest in the 2023 presidential election.

The various groups, during a protest yesterday in Lagos, carried placards with various inscriptions such as ‘Turaki, please leave 2023 for a younger person’; ‘Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ogun States say no to Atiku 2023 agenda’; ‘Atiku is an elder statesman, quit politics now’; South-west wants technocrat as president; Nigeria’s unity is now negotiable’; Southwest reject Atiku’; ‘For equity and justice, power must go to South, please support southern president in 2023′.

One of the leaders of the protesting groups, and the Convener of South-West Development Frontier (SWDF), Olufemi Osabinu, stated that 2023 is a crucial moment that would determine the stability or otherwise of Nigerian democracy.

Osabinu added that while the aspiration of Atiku is constitutional, “it negates the spirit of the same constitution which recognises the principle of federal character in appointments into public office, even though it does not expressly bar such persons from aspiring to lead their country.”

He said: “In the interest of the spirit in which the 1999 Constitution (as amended) was framed, taking into full cognizance the foundations upon which this country was built, power needs to shift to the South to show good faith and help to heal the decades-old wounds of the country, which are getting more pronounced by the day.

“Not only did we find it insensitive the quest to retain power in the North but it is also self-serving and unjust after President Buhari would have completed an eight-year term as the president of Nigeria, from the same northern zone of the country.

“We do not only want to appeal to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to drop his presidential ambition, but we are also reminding politicians who are canvassing for his presidency to realise that they are trying to perpetuate injustice, which is against the unity of our country.

“This demand of ours is not an attempt to malign the character of any individual, but a patriotic call based on the mood and need of the country at this critical moment in the life of Nigeria. We believe that Nigeria must get it right and those who have most benefited from Nigeria must pay back by putting national interest above personal ambition.

“The era of individuals holding god-complex in projecting the belief that they have all the answers to the problems of over 200 million people spread across over 300 ethnic groups is over; the serious business of nation-building to compete effectively internationally begins now and we will accept nothing short of this position.”

On his part, the Convener of Forum of Non-Governmental Organisations (FNGO), Wole Badmus, urged political parties to zone their 2023 presidential slots to the southern part of the country.

According to him, “For national unity, progress and stability of the country, there is a need for power to rotate across the two regions in the country. Power should come to an eminently qualified person in the South. We need people that are capable and not people that are active participants in the destruction of the country. We need agile people.”

While the spokesman of Southern Nigerian Frontier (SNF), Olufemi Lawson, said it is important to inform Nigerians that for the purpose of stability, fairness and justice the president of Nigeria in 2023 should come from the southern part of the country.

“It is insensitive for any political party, particularly the major political parties PDP and APC to present any candidate from the North as their presidential candidate,” he said.