Edwin Clark, an Ijaw national leader, has appealed to those
aspiring for presidency in the 2023 general elections in the north to
reconsider their ambition.
He noted that those aspiring for presidency from the north
such as the former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Governor Aminu
Tambuwal and others, for the interest of unity, peace and progress of the
country reconsider their interest to avoid “chaos”.
In a statement on Monday by Clark, he noted that the
rotation of power between the geo-political zones in the country was to the
overall interest and unity of the country.
Clark stated that though the concept of zoning is not
written in the constitution, rotation of power is to the best interest of the
country’s unity.
According to him, the constitution of the People’s
Democratic Party (PDP) provides for rotation of elective offices, saying that
it is now the turn of the South to produce the 2023 President in the country.
Clack said, “Firstly, I wish to use this medium to advise my
most respected Peoples Democratic Party chieftains in the persons of former
Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, former President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki,
Aminu Tambuwal, Governor of Sokoto State, and other PDP aspirants from the
north, that in the interest of maintaining the unity of this country to which
they have contributed so much, to reconsider their desire of wanting to contest
for the presidential election in 2023, because both by the PDP constitution and
by convention, it is now the turn of Southern Nigeria to produce the president
of Nigeria in 2023, after President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight years.”
He observed that to do otherwise is to invite chaos,
stressing that it would lead to the disintegration of the country.
He believed that zoning has been practised in the nation’s
polity even before Independence, adding that when Tafawa Balewa, in 1954, was
the prime minister, Nnamdi Azikiwe was the governor-general.
He stated that zoning of political offices, particularly the
presidency of the country, is the best antidote to the breakup of Nigeria,
assuring that it is the panacea for peace and unity of the country.
Clark opined that on of the reasons why the north opposed
Anthony Enahoro’s motion for independence in 1953, was that they felt they were
not equal to the south in education, observing that they were not in a position
to produce proportional candidates who will run an independent government with
the south because at that time, they had only about four graduates.
The leader of Ijaw stated that they subsequently walked out
of the Parliament, went back to the north, and swore never to return to Lagos
again.
In his opinion, that was what led to the constitutional
conferences held both at the Lancaster House in London and at Ibadan, Nigeria,
purposely to keep Nigeria one.
He added that the impression was that no one group, or
section of the country, should dominate the government of Nigeria at the
expense of other parts of the country.
He explained that it is instructive that the nation’s two
main parties, the APC and the PDP, have been religiously following the zoning
and rotation system between the north and the south.
Clark stated that by 2023, the north would have ruled for
another eight years, saying that it is rational and right to insist that the
presidency should rotate to the south and it does not matter whether the
presidency has been produced from the APC or the PDP since 2015.
According to him, the South should decide which of its
sub-regions would produce the right presidential candidate.
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