The Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, has warned that the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) is heading down a dangerous path in opposing the 2023 presidency.
Ohanaeze in a statement Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alex Ogbonia said the NEF opposes zoning because it is not the north’s turn to produce Nigeria’s next president in 2023.
He warned that the measures taken so far by NAVE are capable of destroying the vital values that have given balance to Nigeria as a country for many years.
Ogbonia further said that the zoning had been agreed by some national leaders since around 1994 in the interest of justice, equity and peace, urged the NEF to reconsider its position and support the zoning of the presidency of 2023 in the south and in particular in the south-east.
The statement, however, commended leaders and statesmen who have openly spoken out in favor of zoning the 2023 presidency to the south.
Naija News understands that Ohanaeze’s statement is a direct response to the NEF official’s position, Ango Abdallahi who said Thursday that zoning should be ignored in the race to produce Nigeria’s next president in 2023.
Obgonia said: “It is therefore very strange that the ancients, instead of seeking a solution to the problems they have identified so far, are busy strategizing how to destroy the vital values that have helped lubricate a precarious balance. in the country”.
“Around 1994, some Nigerian patriots devised an article of faith and a principle of rotation of power that ensured fairness and inclusiveness for all the various components of the country. Thus, Nigeria was structured into six geopolitical zones; namely, south-south, southeast, southwest, northwest, central-north and northeast.
“It was also agreed that the political offices would be zoned or distributed between the zones in such a way that each zone had a sense of belonging. Further, that the presidency will rotate between the zones to promote peace, unity and progress in Nigeria.
“According to the principle of rotation and zoning in Nigeria, it is only fair that the presidency is zoned in the south, especially in the south-east of Nigeria. It remains the moral duty of elders to guide society along the path of truth and honor.
“The NEF knows full well that in the interest of peace, unity and the corporate existence of Nigeria, we elders must, of necessity, embrace equity and justice. It is not so that it is only right that South East Nigeria be supported to ascend to presidential power because what is good for the goose is, mutatis mutandis, good for the gander.
“All the zoning shenanigans going on in Nigeria are because it is the turn of the South East to produce a President in Nigeria. This NEF knows. We want to use this medium to salute people like Chief Olusegun Obasanjo , Pa Ayo Adebanjo, Chief EK Clarke, Dr Pogu Bitrus and other leaders for their courage in standing on the right side of history.
