National president of the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), Yerima Shettima, says the southeast will support a presidential candidate from the north in 2023 – Yerima argues that the north needs another chance in 2023 to serve as compensation for the many challenges troubling the region –
The head of the northern body also believes that Bola Tinubu, leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), will not be supported if he decides to vie for the presidential election Yerima Shettima, national president of the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), says the 2019 presidential election has shown that the north has the most number of voters. Speaking in a telephone interview with Eromosele Ebhomele, Yerima also believes that the southeast will support the north to produce Muhammadu Buhari’s successor in 2023.
He says the north needs to be compensated You were one of the first to ask Nigerians to consider a northerner for the 2023 presidency. It looks like the picture is becoming clearer. What are the inner political workings of the north ahead of the election? APC governors adopt uniform policy initiatives to address education, security challenges In all honesty, we are talking about Nigeria and democracy. We’ve found out strongly that with what has happened in the last four years if we are still one country or brothers and sisters, we expect solidarity across board without any political hindrance from any quarters. We expect Nigerians to look at the situation around us. The issue of insecurity is highest in the northern part of the country. So many things are still wrong.
We were thinking that with someone from the northern extraction steering the affairs of the country, something good should have come to the north. However, the present administration came on board without a clear policy or direction for the country. They used the entire four years to complain and trade accusations. We have a new government currently and complaints have not ceased and it is obvious that from the way things are going, it is clear that the answers to our problems are not here. 2023: Igbos should produce the next president or there could be political unrest – Northern statesman declares Now, the 2019 general election has fully shown that the north has the most number of votes. Yet, we are the ones faced with a lot of challenges. Ordinarily, without any challenge, we would have now decided to cede power to the south. But from what has happened and from all indications, we expect that people of goodwill would be on our side for us to sail through.
The southeast and southwest leaders say it is their turn… They can say: “This 2019 election has already come and gone. Let us give the north another benefit of the doubt.” We know that the government is only projecting the interests of the southwest and the southwest are the major beneficiaries of the government, yet they are the ones agitating to come up with certain elements from the region to take over from the southwest. For us, we feel and think they do not need it because they already have all that they want from this government. Igbo 2023 presidency: Ngige says APC has no arrangement for zoning, Sagay disagrees Yerima says the north needs to be compensated with another shot at the presidency in 2023 Source: UGC Let them allow us to free ourselves from the shackles of insecurity, poverty and other challenges that we are facing.
Again, if they feel this is about democracy and democracy is about numbers, then let us go to the field. It is about votes. So let them organise and we mobilise and see how it goes. We are going to have sympathy from the southeast that we are going to partner with God’s grace. The southwest, of course, is our partner in progress but few myopic politicians from the region are doing everything to sabotage the intention of the north so as to continue to get what they want and it cannot continue. We are saying that the north will definitely produce the next president. In fact, any political party that wants to win the election in 2023 must decide to pick its flag bearer from the north.
Any attempt to pick a candidate from any other region would amount to huge defeat for any of the political parties. We have mobilised and organised and positioned to ensure that in 2023, the north will produce a candidate. We are going to bring someone who sees Nigeria as his constituency, who would truly fight corruption not minding whose ox is gored, who would handle the economy and revamp it, who would make every Nigerian proud and operate a government of national unity in the interest of the country.
We urge Nigerians to understand. We are not saying government is meant for us alone, we are simply saying that at this period, we expect sympathy from Nigerians for a government of national unity to move ahead so that after then, we may begin to talk about supporting the southeast as partners in progress. The impression you create is that the north should be compensated with the presidency in 2023 because it has suffered insecurity more…