PAN Yoruba group, Afenifere, has insisted that the country’s next president must come from the south in 2023.
The National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, while reacting to the position of northern governors, said equity and fairness demand that Presidency should come to the south.
Speaking in an interview with PUNCh yesterday, the group’s spokesman expressed surprise at the position of the governors saying some northern governors had said before that power should come to the South in 2023
The Afenifere spokesman said, “This new position by the governors indicated that the issue of forging unity in the country is only on their lips and not in their hearts. It is true that zoning is not in the 1999 Constitution. So are many other things that are done politically in form of convention.
“For example, it is not in the constitution that in a state with adherents of Muslims and Christians, the governor and his or her deputy should ideally be Christian and Muslim or vice versa. It is also a matter of convention that two occupants of the said offices should not come from the same local government or senatorial zone.
“These are conventions and not necessarily constitutional matter. Such a convention is entrenched to forge unity and a sense of belonging. Thus, while we, as Afenifere, concede that presidential material can come from any part of the country, equity, fairness and justice demand that the next occupant of the exalted office must come from the South since the North would have occupied that office for unbroken eight years by 2023. It is by so doing that unity and sense of belonging the country needs would be fostered.”
Ajayi added that had whoever happens to be President, governing fairly and justly, it would not have mattered where he or she came from.
“The issue of where the President comes from is on the front burner today because of the nepotic tendencies by those who have been ruling us. This was taken to the highest level by the incumbent President Buhari,” he stated.
The Afenifere spokesman noted that there should be a restructuring before the 2023 elections, adding that if that happened, most of what was causing “brouhaha” now would be a thing of the past.
