The Northern Elders Forum, NEF, has insisted that anyone who doesn’t want a northerner as president in 2023 can leave the country when it happens.
The Editor Nigeria reports that there have been clamour for the two major political parties in the country to zone their presidential ticket to the south.
The southern governors forum had last insisted that they would not support any party that fields a northerner as presidential candidate in 2023.
However, NEF spokesperson, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has stated that northerners would not be treated as second class as they have the population to decide who becomes president.
He stated this while speaking at the maiden Maitama Sule Leadership Lecture Series organized by the students wing of Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria.
Baba-Ahmed said, “The North is not for sale and northerners will surprise those waiting for them to queue up in 2023 and be given money in exchange for their votes.”
He warned that no one can threaten the region to support them, stressing that the north has majority of the votes and democracy says votes win elections.
Baba-Ahmed said: “We will lead Nigeria the way we have led Nigeria before, whether we are President or Vice President, we will lead Nigeria. We have the majority of the votes and the democracy says vote whom you want. Why should we accept second class position when we know we can buy form and contest for first class and we will win?
“Why does anybody need to threaten us and intimidate us? We will get that power, but be humble because power comes from God. We inherited leadership, being honest is not being stupid.
“There are Nigerians who believed that because the economy of the North is being crumbled; we are running away from insecurity, we are politically vulnerable, they think they can buy us for 2023 they are making a mistake.
“We are ready for this, we will consider every economic adversity, challenge, we will fix the Northern economy and we are the only one who can fix this Northern economy. For that reason, we are not for sale. We are in the process of rebuilding the North and we will rebuild the North from 2023.”
