The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has said that nobody should deny any northerner from becoming the next president of Nigeria.
The convener of the forum, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, said this yesterday in Abuja during the General Assembly Meeting of NEF which marked the 10th anniversary of the forum.
He said every citizen, regardless of region, should be given the opportunity to contest any elective position, warning that the North would counter any attempt to subvert the wishes of the people.
He said, “In the history of Nigeria, no section has paid its dues like northern Nigeria; as such, nobody should deny any citizen of the region from becoming the president of Nigeria in the name of power must shift to the South.
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“If we are even going to look at it cortically, since the return of democracy, Obasanjo did 8 years and Goodluck did 6 years making it 14 years; while Yar’Adua did 2 years and Buhari 8 years making it 10 years. So, it means the North still has four years.”
The NEF, therefore, called on Nigerians to vote according to their conscience in the coming general elections.
It restated its commitment to reversing the decline in the fortunes of the North and improving its standing in relationships with the rest of Nigeria.
It also said it would moblise northerners to work in search of committed leadership with integrity, competence and compassion to find solutions to Nigeria’s problems.
“NEF is committed to mobilising fellow northerners to protect their interests in Nigeria. We discourage emergence of leaders who have been adopted by ethnic groups or any such interests and urge people to vote for candidates in accordance with our individual and group interests.
“Also, we commit to supporting the conduct of credible elections and a peaceful transition to the next elected administration and resist any attempt to subvert our democratic system by any unconstitutional means,” the forum declared.
It said it would respect the popular will expressed by credible elections irrespective of the origin and identity of the winner and support the next administration to address major challenges inhibiting the growth, development, peace and security of the North and Nigeria.
Earlier, the NEF Director-General, Prof. Doknan Damjuma Sheni, said recent political utterances by politicians and religious leaders could widen the fault lines among the people in the North.
He also said statistics from multidimensional poverty index released by the National Bureau of Statistics was a source of worry to the northern elders.
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