Northeast youths seek support for southern president in 2023

VON DG urges APC, PDP to adopt Obasanjo/Falae model

A group under the aegis of Tinubu North Eastern Youth Mobilisation Congress has said it was in support of power rotation to the southern part of the country in 2023.

The group made the call in a statement issued by its Coordinator, Aliyu Balewa in Bauchi at the weekend, saying, “On the grounds of justice and fairness, power should shift to the South in 2023 since the North has served two terms of four years each.

“And we believe that the best person to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari is the APC National Leader of APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu because he has been instrumental to Buhari’s victory in 2015 and 2019 elections. He also contributed to the success of the APC in all other elective offices.”

They said the former Governor of Lagos State was a political mentor who had contributed immensely to the victory of APC and President Buhari in the 2015 and 2019 polls and as such he should be compensated with the party’s ticket in the next general elections.

“Therefore, 2023 should be a payback time. Let us respect the gentleman agreement by supporting the South to produce the next president. And Bola Tinubu is the best man for the job in view of his political experience, dexterity, exposure and national patriotism,” Balewa said.

Meanwhile, Director General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu has appealed to the APC and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to adopt the Olusegun Obasanjo/Olu Falae model in fielding their presidential candidates for the 2023 presidential election.He stated this in Enugu yesterday, while reacting to raging issues threatening the country’s democracy, which may mar the 2023 presidential election.

He said violence that characterised the just-concluded Kogi and Bayelsa states election, palpable recession of democracy, the general tension in the land, heated debates on rotation of the presidency and the new wave of IPOB attack on Nigerians abroad were some of the issues threatening the country’s unity.

While advocating a national consensus on Igbo presidency as a recipe to create a sense of belonging and save Nigeria’s democracy, he said the only pragmatic solution to peaceful 2023 presidential election was the Obasanjo/Falae model.Okechukwu assured that if APC and PDP produce presidential candidates of Igbo extraction in 2023, it would remedy the prevailing gun-box democracy and return ballot-box democracy in the country.