It's North's Turn in 2007, Says Gov Igbinedion

[Richard Akindele]

Governor Lucky Igbinedion of Edo state, yesterday in Abuja, advised the South-South to jettison its desire for the presidency and support a northern candidate in next year's elections.

He said there was "a gentleman's agreement" dating back to 2003 that power should shift to the north in 2007.

Governor Igbinedion was speaking at the presidential villa while answering reporters questions after having audience with President Obasanjo. He did not disclose his mission.

He noted that at present, the prospect for the South-South to produce the next president looks "very shaky".

It was his belief, he said, that the people in the zone and their aspirants should exercise patience and "wait for our turn."

"Well, if you remember the last time I spoke to you and if you have been following my anticident, I belief the South-South is not in contention for the presidency of the country as of now," he added.

On the strident voices still in favour of power shift to the South-South come 2007, he said as far as he is concerned, the South-South should forget it for now.

The South-South People Assembly (SSPA), pointed out in a meeting recently that it is committed to the actualisation of a president from the geo-political region and vowed not to backtract from the stand.

Increased television and radio jingles supporting the position of the SSPA has been sponsored of late, with chieftains of the South-South reaching out to the South-East and Middle-Belt leaders for consultations.

There has been strident calls by Northern leaders for powershift to the North in 2007 on the grounds of a "gentleman" agreement reached in 1999 when the PDP accepted to zone power to the South.

Former Minister in the Second Republic, Dr. Umaru Dikko, told Daily Trust there was no negotiating the shift of power to North, noting that it was only fair that the South, after "holding on to power for eight years, the North should also have it back."

Daily Trust.

Admin's commentary:
I wonder what the reaction is to Igbinedion's tribalistic, racist comment.

How about thinking in terms of Nigeria as one nation? How about vying for a candidate that'd take Nigeria out of the doldrums?

We need to be thinking of electing a candidate that has the best interest of the people at heart, not in terms of north, south, east, west.

Too many immature minds in Nigeria keep the country in the bad shape it's been in for decades. These elements need to be marginalized and ultimately flush out.

[Richard Akindele]

Socialist Front (SF), a Northern-based pressure group has said it is opposed to power shift to the North. The SF vows to frustrate any attempt by the northern political elite to actualise the agitation for power shift in 2007.

The group said that the South South should be given the slot to ensure peace, justice, fairness and equity in the country.

Reacting to the stand taken by the Northern Senators Forum and the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) that power shifts to the North in 2007, the leader of the SF and spokesman of the civil society community in the North, Mallam Shehu Sani maintained that the so-called gentleman agreement on power shift in 1999 was not binding on all in the country.

The Northern Senators' Forum had at their meeting at the weekend in Minna, Niger State insisted that the gentleman agreement on power shift to the North be respected in 2007.

At a press briefing weekend in Kaduna, Mallam Sani said, the gentleman agreement reached in 1998 between the political elite desirous of taking over power in 1999 was not binding on all Nigerians because there was no referendum that was conducted shift from the South to the North or from the North to the South.

" Even if there was a gentleman agreement between a group of elite at that very time, a lot of water has passed under the bridge and it is an incontrovertible fact that in all the zones in Nigeria, the South South has been denied, and it is only an act of appreciation from the people of the North to support the South Soth to produce not only a president but a credible candidate that will be a president; that will give this country a sense of direction," he said.

"The masses of the North will not be blinded by sectional sentiment and desperation for power by the political elite. The experience of the common people in the northern part of Nigeria for over three decades was that this same political elite that have been angling for power got power and wasted it" the pro democracy and human right activist stated.

He further argued that the northern political elite is yet to account to the pauperised masses of the North having been in power for over three decades.

"So for a group of people who were desperate on seizing political power from the military to sit down in a comfortable hall in Nicon Noga or Sheraton or any five-star hotel in Abuja to decide how they are going to shift power from one region to another, we do not believe that such argument holds water; and we are also making it categorically clear that we will oppose any attempt by any individual or group to whip up sectional sentiment to support a discredited candidate or aspirant that will be pushed as a front, as a presentation of the northern political position," Sani affirmed.

He described Northern Senators' position as a calculated attempt to back the presidential ambition of the erstwhile military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (rtd).

He said any Northerner who aspire to be president in 2007 must have a clear agenda on what he has on the ground for the desertification in the North, the dredging of River Niger or exploration of oil in Lake Chad and Benue and Bauchi, the educational development in northern part of Nigeria, etc.

Daily Champion

[Richard Akindele]

SOUTHERN leaders yesterday ruled out any form of negotiation on power shift in 2007, insisting that the South must retain presidency at the expiration of President Olusegun Obasanjo's tenure.

Besides, the leaders, under the aegis of Southern Forum (SF) appealed to the National Assembly to revisit the Constitution Amendment Bill to correct anomalies in the polity especially lopsidedness in the number of states in geo-political zones.

Also, the Forum said the South is not perturbed by declaration of interest in the 2007 presidency by some retired military generals from the north.

Addressing newsmen at Airport Hotel Lagos, Secretary-General of Southern Forum, Dr Nashiru, Dejo Raimi said the South's position on retaining power at the end of the incumbent administration remains unchanged.

The Southern leaders' reaffirmation of stand on the 2007 presidency is coming three days after northern senators and political leaders in the north met in Minna, Niger State and ruled out any compromise on power returning to the zone in 2007.

Raimi, a former secretary of Oyo State Government submitted that the north is unrealistic and insensitive of the political feelings of geo-political zones like South East and South-South which were yet to produce president.

He explained that north has ruled for over three decades and therefore should give other zones opportunity to have a shot at the number one office.

He said, "the Southern Forum reaffirms that, in view of the fact that the North had ruled this country for 30 years since independence, the presidency should in 2007 go either to the South-South zone which had never produced a president or to the South-East which produced a president who ruled this country for six months only in 1966".

On the insistence of some Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftains from the north that there was an agreement that power should return to them in 2007, Raimi dismissed such position, challenging holders of such opinion to produce document containing the pact.

He contended that the reality on the ground was that Nigerians from different cultural background want to be carried along and insisted that it is only when power is made to rotate among the six geo-political zones that such expectation would be met.

The SF scribe urged political parties to be more concerned about the feelings of majority of Nigerians than the agitation of a select few.

To this end, he called on political parties to give the presidential tickets to aspirants from either the South east or South South.

Commenting on the aborted 1999 constitution amendment bill, the former Oyo SSG regretted that the National Assembly had to throw away the bill because of the controversial tenure elongation.

He said the bill contained provisions, needed to restructure the country and make it a modern and acceptable place to live by all and sundry.

He appealed to the federal legislators to reconsider their stand on the bill and revisit it to help in restructuring the nation.

He particularly called on the legislators to reintroduce the bill to address the disparity in the number of states in the geo-political zone, saying that the present status quo was against the south-east and South-south.

Meanwhile, Chairman of SF, Chief Matthew Mbu has said that both the south east and south south geopolitical zones were not perturbed by the recent declarations of interest in the 2007 presidency by former military generals from the north saying he was satisfied with the level of efforts and consultations made so far by the

Forum to give Nigeria a credible presidential candidate from either of the two zones.

Addressing reporters in Enugu as part of the consultations embarked upon by the Forum to find a suitable candidate for the number one position, Mbu insisted that the Forum was poised to met the expectations of Nigerians on the issue, stressing that the it was also not deterred by the amount of time left with it to present the candidates.

He said, "In a democracy you don't give up. Every body has the right to aspire to any position. That is why we are not deterred by the __expression of interest on the presidency in 2007 by the retired military generals from the north. All we know is that we have a good case, we have the right materials for the position. Our demand is based on equity, justice and fair-play based on historical antecedent. We know it is our right but in politics, you have to fight for it and that is why we are canvassing for it."

The former Ambassador asked all the political parties participating in the 2007 general elections "to borrow a leaf from what the registered parties did in 1999 and shop for their presidential materials from the South East or South- South", adding that anything to the contrary would negate the spirit of true federalism which the nation had canvassed.

On last week's meeting of the Forum in Yenegoa, Bayelsa State, he said that it was called to review the efforts of the Forum so far as well as fine tune strategies for the realization of set goals.

He made it clear that the Southern geo political zone would not be confrontational with an individual or group in achieving the presidency, stressing that though the Forum had always employed dialogue in the pursuit of the matter, it was "embarrassed" by certain comments emanating from the north over the position.

"Every body in democracy is free to speak out his/he mind within the law. People are free to speak their mind on political issues of the day, but we should do this in a more mature and civilized way ad that is why we still argue that our case is the best any how it is looked at", he added.

Chief Mbu further asked the people of the Southern Zone to continue to pursue the matter with dialogue, adding that the leadership of the Southern Forum would not rest until presidency was realized for the zone.

Daily Champion