Intrigues as agitation for power shift to N/Central gathers steam

Agitation for power shift to the North Central is gathering steam as political actors and other critical stakeholders from the zone have commenced meetings with serious emphasis on the need for the zone to produce President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor at the expiration of his tenure in 2023. The agitations are premised on the argument that […]

Agitation for power shift to the North Central is gathering steam as political actors and other critical stakeholders from the zone have commenced meetings with serious emphasis on the need for the zone to produce President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor at the expiration of his tenure in 2023.

The agitations are premised on the argument that the zone has never produced a president or vice president in a democratic dispensation since Nigeria became an independent state in 1960.

Controversy is raging in the polity over which zone produces the next president. Governors from the South had met and agreed that it was the turn of the South to take a shot at it, a development that received heavy bashing from northern political gladiators.

The South East is equally agitating for the apex seat, while the North Central, which is made up of Niger, Kogi, Benue, Kwara, Plateau and Nasarawa states, is arguing that while the South East had produced Alex Ekwueme as vice president in 1983, the North Central zone neither produced vice president nor president.

A credible source told Daily Trust yesterday that leaders from the North Central were set to accentuate their campaign and agitation for the rest of the country to support their aspiration.

He said the campaign is to be handled at different levels with members of the National Assembly from the zone, former members of the National Assembly, present and past governors from the zone, Speakers of the state Houses of Assembly, retired generals and many others selling the agenda.

A former National Chairman of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) from the zone, Chief Peter Ameh, told Daily Trust in a phone interview yesterday that “Power is not given, power is taken. So if they have the numerical strength, they should pursue it with all vigour.” 

A former Senate president, Bukola Saraki, who is from the zone had last week, declared his intention to run for president in 2023. He made his intention known when he visited Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom, in Makurdi.  

Recently, the North Central Zonal Chairman of the Coalition of APC Support Groups, Musa Ali Otigba, asked the national leadership of the party to zone the party’s 2023 presidential ticket to the region.

Similarly, leaders of the zone under the auspices of the North Central Renaissance Movement (NCRM) have called on the two major political parties – APC and PDP – to zone their presidential tickets to the zone in the interest of fairness and justice.

A prominent leader from the North Central who has been part of recent meetings on the matter told Daily Trust yesterday that the zone should have it, arguing that the unity of the North has been achieved because it solidly supports the Arewa oneness. 

“North Central leaders are working silently to ensure that the idea of a Nigerian president from the zone is acceptable to all and sundry from the zone and that it becomes a consensually accepted idea. 

“The plan is to ensure that two or at least one of the two leading political parties presents a presidential aspirant from our zone while the other parties also get ready to present presidential candidates who are from the zone. Then you will see our people solidly coming out to persuade the rest of the country to vote for a president from the North Central. 

“Leaders like Chief Sunday Awoniyi, S. B. Daniyan, Alh. Aliyu Makaman Bida, Alh. Ahman Pategi, and others stood solidly behind Sir Ahmadu Bello and ensured the Gamji provided cover for all northerners.

“When the military took over, the North Central was the reason why Nigeria did not break into pieces as an aftermath of the 1966 coup. 

“In the Second Republic, leaders from the North in the now-defunct NPN promised a North Central leader, Dr. Joseph Sarwuan Tarka, the presidency before the decision was changed at the last minute in favour of Alhaji Shehu Shagari. 

“In fact, the North Central played a key role in the political development of Nigeria such that the place had hosted some of the landmark events in the country,” he said.