As the race for the 2023 presidential election heats up, leaders and youth from northern Nigeria have warned political parties against fielding aged, incompetent, or incapable candidates, warning that the North will turn its back on any party that deliberately and specifically tilts advantages to candidates from certain regions.
They stressed that the next President can be from any part of the country, and must be the President for all Nigerians, stressing that those Northerners aspiring to become the next President must know that Northern Elders Forum, Coalition of Northern Groups, and many other groups in the region.
The spokesperson of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Hakeem Baba-Ahmed stated this yesterday during the Maitama Sule Leadership Lecture Series organized by the Students Wing of Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) Borno State chapter.
His words, “If a Northerner is to become the next President with our votes in the North, then he has to be the best among all others. He has to convince us in the North that he understands our problems, and has the capacity to solve them. He must have the disposition, energy, health, and intelligence to heal the breached pluralism of the North and build bridges across the entire nation.
“He has to be able to lead a country that is failing in a number of significant areas. A personal ambition to be President will not be enough, and we will scrutinize and advise those who will listen, to avoid the temptation to put in place persons who just want power, but not responsibility.
“A president from the North must have the exposure and network to reintegrate all parts of Nigeria into one country and one vision. He must have the courage to eliminate threats of insurgents, bandits, kidnappers, irredentists, impunity, the drugs pandemic, and corruption.
“He must lead with a sense of mission and urgency; the wisdom to negotiate where necessary and the clout to hit hard where he needs to; and a clear understanding of the sources and nature of our threats and their solutions.
“The point must be made again that every Nigerian, irrespective of his political party or identity must be free to contest within his or her party to be fielded as a Presidential candidate, and we should reject any party that specifically and deliberately excludes any Nigerian from exercising the same right other Nigerians have,” Baba-Ahmed said.
While taking a swipe at the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, the NEF spokesman said it has dropped the ball in terms of insecurity, irredentism, corruption, poverty, national cohesion, unemployment of the young, and faith in the democratic process to become a way of life in Nigeria today.
He noted that with the unglorifying performance of the Buhari administration, which many mischievously see as solely a Northern creation, Northerners have come to appreciate that being Northern alone is not enough to make a good leader.
“The rest of Nigeria has a legitimate cause of concern when sections of the country that have become virtual hostages of irredentists, suggest that only when they have the Presidency will the country eliminate organized violence that has made massive inroads into lives of Nigerian citizens living there,” Baba-Ahmed said.
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