2023: Nigeria Needs Tried, Tested Individual as President, Says Atedo Peterside

Alex Enumah in Abuja

The Founder of Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, Mr. Atedo Atedo Peterside, has said that for the nation to move forward, the people need to ensure that they elect individuals who have been tried and tested into public office.

According to Peterside, it is high time Nigeria emulated developed nations like the United States of America who carry out a thorough background checks on all those seeking public office, particularly, the exalted office of president.

The retired banker spoke yesterday night while responding to questions on zoning on the ARISE News Channel.

He said: “It is important you have people who are tried and tested, people who understand that there is more to Nigeria than their own personal interest or ethnic group.”

According to him, if Nigeria must avoid a situation where elected officials get into office only to get surrounded by their own people alone and make the nation more disunited and tensed up, then the people must carry out a background check on contenders of public office.

“When we are talking of the kind of leaders we need, we have to go to the basic, we must do background checks, there should be no surprises,” he said, adding that the people need to ensure that only people who have shown capacity, competent and integrity, as well as people who have identified leadership style are elected into office.

“It is dangerous to put somebody as president, and you don’t know anything about their leadership style. Before you put somebody into that exalted office, you should know something about their leadership style. There are many human beings who don’t know what their own leadership style will be until you give them absolute power because absolute power corrupts.

Peterside reiterated his support for zoning, stressing that it would give all Nigerians a sense of belonging and thereby endear unity among the federating states. He, however, suggested that zoning should be between North and South as zoning among the geopolitical zones will limit the options to the people.

“But if you zone to the entire South or entire North, it is quite unlikely that you will not find some strong candidates”, adding that when you zone to the entire North you encourage them to come out and same in the South.

He noted that the reason behind zoning is to give people a sense of belonging as well as to allow power to shift from one region to the other.