Cracks in Governors Forum over Southern Govs’ 2023 presidency position

THERE are indications that the Ni­geria Governors’ Forum (NGF), appears to be divided over the position of the Southern governors that the 2023 pres­idency should be zoned to the Southern part of the country.

It was learnt that the state governors are not on the same page on the issue.

According to the communiqué by the Southern governors read by Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, “The Forum reiterates its commitment to the politics of equity, fairness and unanimous­ly agrees that the presidency of Nigeria be rotated between South­ern and Northern Nigeria and re­solved that the next president of Nigeria should emerge from the southern region.

Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, who is the chairman of the NGF, was also present at the Southern Governors’ Forum where the decision was reached.

In an apparent response to his Southern counter­parts, Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State at the weekend said the 1999 con­stitution does not recognise the zoning of presidency.

Bello, who is from the North-Central zone of the country and is seeking to contest the presidency in 2023 on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), said con­sideration should be given to merit rather than zoning.

“On zoning presidency to a particular zone in 2023, we must apply equity in the process. Democracy is all about free will. Let no po­litical party limit the choice to a particular zone.

“Zoning is not recognised in the 1999 constitution, it’s absolutely unconstitution­al. If we must continue with the sentiment of rota­tional presidency, it’s okay, but let’s do it right in the interest of equity, fairness and justice.”

A credible source in NGF, which is the umbrella body of the 36 state governors in Nigeria, said some North­ern governors were shocked by the decision of their Southern counterparts on the “future of the country post-2023 without carrying them along”.

According to him, being a national issue that is not limited to the Southern re­gion alone, the issue should have been discussed among the governors like every other issue that affects the whole of the country and not the manner the South­ern governors treated it as a “coup against the other part of the country.

“Yes, I can authoritative­ly tell you that the 36 gov­ernors who are members of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum are not on the same page on the issue of the zon­ing of the 2023 presidential ticket.

“Some of the members of the NGF, especially those from the Northern part of the country, felt it is a very sensitive national issue, it should have been discussed among them, instead of what their colleagues in the South are doing by treating it as a regional issue.

“I am sure if the issue was tabled at NGF meeting, those in support of zoning the presidency to the South in 2023 may still carry the day because we have seen some Northern governors who have publicly said it must be the turn of the South in 2023. I know the Kaduna State governor, Na­sir El-Rufai, has said that severally.

“The issue of the 2023 presidency is not entirely a PDP or APC affair. It is also neither a Northern gover­nors’ nor Southern gover­nors’ affair. It is a burning national issue that should be agreed upon by all stake­holders, especially by the state governors as repre­sented by the NGF”, he said.

Also speaking, a former governor in the North-East­ern part of the country, said it is very likely that the po­sition of the Southern gov­ernors will divide the NGF.

While sharing the view that the issue of zoning the presidency in 2023 is a national issue, he, however, said it cannot be discussed at the NGF level based on the ambition of some of the governors both in the North and Southern part of the country.