Buhari’s ex-aide: Intimidation, blackmail won’t make North cede Presidency to South

The former Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to President Muhammadu Buhari on National Assembly matters (House of Representatives), Abdulrahman Suleman Kawu Sumaila, has said the north will not cede presidency to the South based on blackmail and intimidation.

He said this while reacting to an interview granted to one of the national dailies by the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige.

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Ngige had said any political party that fields a Northern candidate in the 2023 presidential election would lose.

Sumaila, a former member of the House of Representatives, said Ngige and his likes should bury their heads in shame for trying to intimidate and blackmail the North on the 2023 presidency.

According to him, the North would only cede power to the Southern part of the country through negotiations, dialogue, consensus and understanding, not rantings in the media.

Power shift has been a major topic in the buildup to the 2o23 general elections.

At separate meetings held on July 5 — in Lagos — and September 16 — in Enugu, the southern governors had said the presidency should be zoned to their region.

However, in a communique signed by Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau and chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum, the governors said the position of their colleagues in the South is condemnable.

“The Forum observed that some Northern State Governors had earlier expressed views for a power-shift to three geopolitical zones in the South with a view to promoting unity and peace in the nation. Notwithstanding their comments, the Forum unanimously condemns the statement by the Southern Governors Forum that the Presidency must go to the South,” the communique read.

“The statement is quite contradictory with the provision of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999) as amended, that the elected President shall: score the majority votes; score at least 25% of the votes cast in 2/3 States of the Federation. In the case of run-up, simple majority wins the election.”