Former Governor of Kano State, Ibrahim Shekarau, has cautioned governors from the Southern part of the country to stop “ganging up” and “issuing threats” to get the 2023 Presidential slot.
Shekarau, while featuring on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, ‘Sunrise Daily’ monitored by TheIdeal said though he is in support of the Southern region producing the next President, he however, knocked the Southern Governors for “ganging up” to demand Presidency in 2023.
The two-term governor and former Minister of Education, who currently represents Kano Central District in the Senate, said that the next President after the incumbent, Muhammadu Buhari, should come from the Southern region of the country to give “a sense of belonging” to every Nigerian.
He also noted that the APC should zone its presidential ticket to a capable and credible candidate in the South in the next election which is about 18 months from now.
TheIdeal reports that governors from the 17 Southern states had met twice in the year and demanded power shift to their region while the 19 Northern Governors also met last week, opposing such move and noting that the candidate with the highest votes will emerge as President in the next general elections.
Shekarau said, “As far as the party I belong is concerned, the APC, my proposal is that now that President Buhari is from the northern part of the country and (after) he has done his eight years, let beam the searchlight to the southern part of Nigeria, not because we don’t have competent people in the north…that does not mean you are throwing away the issue of competence, credibility and so on.
“While I agree we should go for the best and therefore throw it open, regardless of which part of the country, but we must also be mindful of the aspect of the sense of belonging. We must be mindful of perception, to give some sense of belonging to every part of Nigeria.
“Where I disagree with the Southern Governors is coming together to gang up to say it must be our turn. I think this is purely a party affair.”
He said further, “We must not do this at the point of threat, that it must be me, it must be he, we need to come together. This is more of a political party issue.
“My point of disagreement with the gang up groups like the Southern Governors is coming to gang up to say it must be our time, this is wrong, it is purely (a) party issue and the political parties should go into the boardrooms and sort this issue out themselves.”
