Arewa Youth and Women Awareness For Democracy FCT Abuja Chapter (AY-WAD) has rejected the position of the Southern governors that the 2023 presidency should be zone to the Southern part of the country.
According to AY-WAD, the position of the southern governors is unconstitutional.
The group in a statement on Thursday by its chairman, Comrade Umar Ibrahim Maudo and made available to SINL Nigeria Online maintained that the region should not be compelled to accede to a democratically elected office that can be sought by any person irrespective of where he comes from in Nigeria.
The position of AY-WAD was coming barely 48 hours after the Southern governors insisted that the south must produce the next president in 2023.
AY-WAD observed that “as far as the North was concerned, the idea that it would be threatened, intimidated or blackmailed into yielding an office that ought to be settled democratically is not acceptable and unconstitutional”.
“Thus the AY-WAD sees the decision of the southern governors as an expression of sentiment that could be best discussed within a political process and political party not Nigerian constitution.
“We are running a democratic government and decisions over where the next president comes from are basically decisions that will be made by voters exercising their rights to choose which candidate best serves their interest and which suit their interest politically.”
The Group explained that the southern governors are from the two dominant parties: APC and PDP, saying that they must have some influence in those parties.
“The southern governors should influence their parties to zone the presidency to southern states and then work to convince Nigerian voters from all parts of the country to vote for that candidate but not trying to go against our country constitution”.
According to the group, democratic rights of Nigerian citizens to vote for a candidate cannot be snatched by threats or intimidation, stressing that politicians were becoming very lazy to think they will be given leadership in a manner that suggests an ultimatum.
