*Protest against power shift to south
Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi
Few hours after northern governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) conceded the 2023 presidency to the southern part of the country, a coalition of youth groups in the APC has dissociated itself from the stance of the governors declaring that the decision does not reflect the opinions of the entire North.
The coalition made up of APC Youths Elements and North-East Youth Forum for APCstated this at a jointly held a peaceful protest against the decision of the governors, who they described as “selfish, self-centered and power mongers.”
The youths, who carried placards with different inscriptions, demanded that the APC, if it wants to remain in power beyond 2023, should allow a candidate from the North emerge in other to be able to match the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which according to them, has a formidable candidate in Atiku Abubakar.
They further berated the northern governors for not doing anything to develop their respective states but plunged the region into untold hardships, particularly myriad of issues, including banditry, kidnapping, robbery, poverty, unemployment and other social vices.
Addressing journalists on the issue, the Chairman of APC Progressives Youth Elements, Al-Amin Bala Mai’Auduga, stressed that the northern governors did not do wider consultation before reaching the decision they announced last Saturday, saying it does not represent the entire northern region.
He said: “We are not in support of the decision because it is against our political wish for 2023. The northern governors just sat down and took the decision for the people of the North. They are on their own.”
Al-Amin Mai’Auduga, therefore, called on the APC to allow a level playing fields for all the aspirants so that whoever emerges in a fair contest would be supported by all the APC members, adding that limiting the contest to a particular region is not democratic.
According to him, “The North has eminently qualified people who can succeed President Muhammadu Buhari, therefore, we want the APC to beam its searchlight to the North and get a presidential candidate.”
Also speaking during the protest, the state Coordinator of North-East Youths Forum of APC, C Ibrahim Hashim Abdullahi, declared that the northern youths will not support a presidential candidate of the APC from the southern part of the country.
According to him, “President Buhari has started a lot of programmes and projects that will make the North better, so we need someone who knows the North very well and will be able to complete the projects and programmes.”
