National Chairman of Action Democratic Party (ADP), Yabagi Yusuf Sani, has faulted the demand by Southern governors that President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor should come from their area. Speaking in a Channels Television programme, Yabagi also said the zoning arrangement has been violated by the South, hence the North should retain the presidency.
What’s your take on the position of the Southern governors that President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor should come from their area?
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To me, it is a very wrong way to go about issues of politics that affect the whole nation. Because the message here unfortunately is like gang up against the rest of Nigerians, particularly the North, by state actors who should be the ones that should protect and advance the unity of this country and ensure that all the parts will be comfortable.
All the things listed in that communique show a kind of gang up against the North. When you look at insecurity, you look at the issue of politics 2023 wondering how can we have elected officials, governors for that matter, coming out in this manner to emphasise things that divide us, not talking about things that unite the country.
It is unfortunate that we don’t have governors coming together on issues of principle that are progressive. We want a progressive government in this country. We belong to a particular ideological leaning and therefore we want to entrench that kind of politics in the country. But what we are hearing is that these governors are not anything better than Igboho or Kanu or any person that is not elected to protect the nation.
So, I’m really disappointed to say the least because by now we shouldn’t be talking about these dichotomies that have nothing to do with good governance. You talk about the North, you talk about religion, you talk about where you come from and you are talking about fairness.
The way they are going will even kind of scare the North and don’t forget that the North controls the largest strength of the votes that you want to use to become president of this country. Except what they are talking about is the president of Southern Nigeria, not the president of Nigeria. They must start to act in a way that somebody can entrust his future, his affairs in your hands. So when you talk about fairness and you look at the zones, the North-Central where I come from has not been given a chance in this country to lead it in the civilian administration.
During Obasanjo and Jonathan there were issues of where the power should go and Northern politicians clamoured that power should go to the North, why you against this now?
The worst violator of the agreement you are talking about is even the Southern part of the country. When Jonathan was supposed to do only four years of his administration, when Umaru Yar’Adua passed away, why did he violate that pact? He even wanted to have a third term. And the Southerners want to lord it over the North; that now they are telling us it is eight years under Buhari so after this it must go south.
