The Pan Niger Delta Forum has described as “irrational and delusional” the remarks by the Coalition of Northern Groups against the Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN.
Akeredolu while hosting a delegation of the Power Rotation Movement in Akure, the Ondo State capital, had said no political party should field a northerner as presidential candidate in 2023.
Reacting, the CNG through its spokesperson, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, described the governor’s words as empty threats that won’t work.
The CNG spokesperson was also quoted to have described Akeredolu as a threat to Democracy.
Reacting, PANDEF, in a statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary, Ken Robinson, said, “How can any sane person refer to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu as a threat to democracy? Do they need to be apprised of the credentials of Mr Governor?
“PANDEF wholly backs the statement of the Governor and restates the resolution of the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders’ Forum at its meeting of January 13, 2022, that any political party that fields a northern candidate should not count on the support of the four regions in the 2023 presidential election.
“Why is it difficult for people to accept the truth? It is simply unthinkable that anyone would consider another northern presidency after President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight years.
Organisations like the so-called Coalition of Northern Groups seem incorrigibly apathetic about the peace, unity and stability of Nigeria. They have, by their utterances, presented themselves as assemblages of unpatriotic individuals, who, perhaps, benefit from the inglorious goings-on in the country.
PANDEF urges these groups to strive to appreciate the true tenets of democracy and stop the hallucination. The north should not and cannot retain Nigeria’s presidency beyond 29th May 2023, in the interest of national harmony.”
The CNG had also stated that “no amount of threats and intimidation from the South would change the minds of northerners regarding zoning.”
Reacting to that, PANDEF said, “Defining the just and rightful demands for zoning and power rotation as threats and blackmail is a logical fallacy. Nobody is threatening nor attempting to intimidate anyone; the South, and other patriotic Nigerians who are concerned about the future of Nigeria, are simply insisting that the fundamental principles of fairness, justice and equity must be respected and upheld in the power equation of Nigeria.
“Let’s remind the said Coalition of Northern Groups and their sympathisers that the appropriation of rights by any section of the country must be measured against the rights of the others. Undoubtedly, no group or section of Nigeria can arrogate to itself or colonise the presidency of Nigeria.”
Copyright PUNCH.
