It’s disingenuous denying South a shot at presidency in 2023 — Akeredolu

Chairman of Southern Governors’ Forum and Ondo State governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, has urged the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to ensure that the southern part of the country produces the next president.

The governor in a statement yesterday said the APC leadership should have no difficulty in making pronouncement on the issue, adding that this must be done without delay as the principle of Federal Character is enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

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He said it would be disingenuous for anyone to argue against power shift to the southern region in 2023, adding that it would be dangerous not to cede power to the region.

Akeredolu said, “All lovers of peace and freedom must do everything to eschew tendencies which may predispose them to taking decisions which promote distrust and lead to a crisis, the end of which nobody may be able to predict.

“The current democratic dispensation is anchored on the unwritten convention driven by a principle of equity. Political expediency dictates, more appealingly, that while adhering to the spirit and letters of the laws guiding conduct of elections and succession to political offices, we must do nothing which is capable of tilting the delicate balance against the established arrangement which guarantees peace and promotes trust.

 “The party just elected officers on the established principle of giving every part of the country an important stake in the political calculus. The focus has now shifted to the process which will culminate in the participation of our party in the general elections scheduled for next year.

 “The leadership of the party ensured that the principle of rotational representation guided its decision at the just-concluded convention. The party chairmanship position has gone to the North.

 “It is the turn of the southern part of the country to produce the next president. The party leadership should have no difficulty in making pronouncements on this very important issue, just as it has fixed various fees for the purchase of forms.”