The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) has disagreed with a northern elder statesman, Mr. Sani Zangon Daura, who called on the region to support a northern candidate for the presidency in 2023.
The AYCF said in a statement by its national president, Mr. Yerima Shettima that supporting a southern presidential candidate is clearly a demonstration of justice.
He noted that the choice of a southerner for president by the region is clearly in the spirit of justice adding that Nigeria does not belong to the north alone.
The group insisted that even on moral grounds, the most responsible political action by the north was the decision on power shift in 2023, stressing that the presidency cannot be hereditary and Nigeria is not a banana republic.
He noted that this was because Nigeria does not belong to the North alone, or Muslims and Christians of the north.
“Even on moral grounds, the most responsible political action by the North was the decision on power shift in 2023, because the Presidency cannot be hereditary and Nigeria is not a banana republic,” he said.
The AYCF noted that when 13 Northern governors led by the governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai endorsed a Southern candidate for the 2023 presidency, they repeatedly cited political justice.
“Though we are not card-carrying members of the APC, we shared the view that the decision was in line with being fair to the South in 2023.
“We are aware, as well as our father Zangon Daura, that the North is respected for honoring its promises to the South and this one absolutely undeniable character of all northerners.
“We are not known to break promises and that explains why our son, President Muhammadu Buhari never objected to the idea of a Southern presidential candidate in the ruling party. In the North, like our father Zangon Daura knows, promises are sacred and in fact a culture,” AYCF stated.
However, Shettima said Daura was expressing his personal opinion and not the stand of the north in general.
Recall that Daura while addressing a group of youths suggested that they should throw their weight behind a fellow Northerner for the presidency in 2023, citing historic and religious instances.
