Former presidential candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, Maj.-Gen. Mohammadu Buhari (retd.), on Wednesday in Kaduna advised Northern politicians agitating for the zoning of the presidency to the North in 2011 to allow Nigerians to choose their next leader freely.
Buhari, who recently dumped the All Nigeria Peoples Party for the Congress for Progressive Change, also said that Northern politicians insisting on the zoning of the presidency to the region were trivialising a national issue.
The former presidential candidate of the ANPP, who spoke in a statement signed by his Secretary, Public Affairs, Mr. Ya’u Shehu Darazo, faulted the raging controversy over the zoning arrangement of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party.
In the statement entitled, “Northern leaders’ gang-up against Jonathan,” he said it was “most unfortunate” that 50 years after independence, some prominent Northern politicians could gather to push a position, in which the presidency could be “trivialised along sectional divides.”
He stressed that Nigerians should be allowed to make their choice of the next president in a free and fair election.
The former head of state, therefore, warned that the zoning arrangement should not be misconstrued as a position supported by the entire North, adding that it was an arrangement backed by some Northern politicians in the PDP.
Prominent politicians from the North in the ruling party recently met in Abuja to discuss strategies for frustrating President Goodluck Jonathan’s alleged interest in contesting the 2011 poll. The politicians insisted that the North must produce the president in 2011.
But Buhari vowed that he and his new party would have nothing to do with the meetings of the Northern politicians.
Buhari further argued that the issues surrounding the presidency should be about “programme for development,” rather than hammering on sectional issues.
According to him, the presidency should also not be viewed as North versus South or Muslims against Christians.
The statement reads, “Our attention is drawn to widely publicised media reports of meetings held in Kaduna and Abuja by a certain section of the Northern political elite. The meetings, according to the report, were a ‘kind of northern’ opposition against the possible candidacy of President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2011 general elections.
“The communique of the Abuja meeting indicated the decision of the conveners of the meeting to invite Gen. Muhammadu Buhari among others in their next meetings.
“We wish to use this medium and make it very clear that Gen. Buhari and his party, the Congress for Progressive Change, would have nothing to do with the meeting, as it is diversionary; and whose principles are inconsistent with the tenets of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The meetings were largely a PDP affair and Gen. Buhari cannot be a party to them.
“We, however, concede to the right of those northerners who are members of the PDP to continue to advocate zoning or anything they like. That is the business of the PDP, which is quite different from (that of) the North.
“It is rather unfortunate that 50 years after independence, the presidency of the country is still being trivialised along sectional divides. We wish to make it clear that the presidency of Nigeria is not about North versus South or Muslims versus Christians.
“It is about a programme for development; it is about performance or non-performance; it is about integrity and accountability. It is about the fight against corruption and mismanagement of public funds. And Nigerians under a free and fair election should be allowed to make their choice.”
By Segun Olatunji, Kaduna
Buhari, who recently dumped the All Nigeria Peoples Party for the Congress for Progressive Change, also said that Northern politicians insisting on the zoning of the presidency to the region were trivialising a national issue.
The former presidential candidate of the ANPP, who spoke in a statement signed by his Secretary, Public Affairs, Mr. Ya’u Shehu Darazo, faulted the raging controversy over the zoning arrangement of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party.
In the statement entitled, “Northern leaders’ gang-up against Jonathan,” he said it was “most unfortunate” that 50 years after independence, some prominent Northern politicians could gather to push a position, in which the presidency could be “trivialised along sectional divides.”
He stressed that Nigerians should be allowed to make their choice of the next president in a free and fair election.
The former head of state, therefore, warned that the zoning arrangement should not be misconstrued as a position supported by the entire North, adding that it was an arrangement backed by some Northern politicians in the PDP.
Prominent politicians from the North in the ruling party recently met in Abuja to discuss strategies for frustrating President Goodluck Jonathan’s alleged interest in contesting the 2011 poll. The politicians insisted that the North must produce the president in 2011.
But Buhari vowed that he and his new party would have nothing to do with the meetings of the Northern politicians.
Buhari further argued that the issues surrounding the presidency should be about “programme for development,” rather than hammering on sectional issues.
According to him, the presidency should also not be viewed as North versus South or Muslims against Christians.
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Former President, Gen Muhammadu Buhari |
“The communique of the Abuja meeting indicated the decision of the conveners of the meeting to invite Gen. Muhammadu Buhari among others in their next meetings.
“We wish to use this medium and make it very clear that Gen. Buhari and his party, the Congress for Progressive Change, would have nothing to do with the meeting, as it is diversionary; and whose principles are inconsistent with the tenets of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The meetings were largely a PDP affair and Gen. Buhari cannot be a party to them.
“We, however, concede to the right of those northerners who are members of the PDP to continue to advocate zoning or anything they like. That is the business of the PDP, which is quite different from (that of) the North.
“It is rather unfortunate that 50 years after independence, the presidency of the country is still being trivialised along sectional divides. We wish to make it clear that the presidency of Nigeria is not about North versus South or Muslims versus Christians.
“It is about a programme for development; it is about performance or non-performance; it is about integrity and accountability. It is about the fight against corruption and mismanagement of public funds. And Nigerians under a free and fair election should be allowed to make their choice.”
By Segun Olatunji, Kaduna
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