• Says 2023 Polls Should Be Open To Competent, Credible Candidates
Rising from an emergency meeting of Northern
Leaders of Thought at the Arewa House, yesterday, the North has said it would
not accept the zoning of the 2023 Presidency to any region in the country.
The Leaders of Thought,
including officials of Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Prof. Ango Abdullahi,
Hakeem Baba-Ahmed; former ministers, lawmakers, religious leaders, politicians
and other personalities from the region, agreed at the meeting that the 2023
presidential polls should be open for credible and competent candidates to
contest.
In a communiqué issued and signed by Prof.
Doknan Decent Danjuma Shenni, they urged the Federal Government not to breach
“the fundamental rights of all political parties to field candidates of their
choices, and the right of voters to freely exercise choices over who leads them
cannot be compromised.
“Northerners have equal rights to aspire to all
offices, but they must raise competence, evidence of personal integrity and
commitments to the rule of law above all other considerations.
“Northerners should
ignore provocative statements from groups in the South, who appear to believe
in threats and hate campaigns as the hallmark or defining elements for
elections. North should vote for the best leader.
“We the Northern Leaders of Thought also agreed
that the current state of insecurity in the North is unprecedented and
unacceptable”.
The group advised the administration of
President Muhammadu Buhari to revisit and re-prioritise spending on security
and address poverty.
They further said: “The
fundamental rights of all political parties to field candidates of their
choices, and the right of voters to freely exercise choices over who leads them
cannot be compromised. “Northerners have equal rights to aspire to all offices
but they must raise competence, evidence of personal integrity and commitments
to the rule of law above all other considerations.”
The meeting also noted “the desperate condition
of the economic existence of most Northerners, poses additional threats to
security and the democratic process”, stressing, “It recommends that leaders
should avoid pushing the population into deeper poverty and desperation with
challenging economic policies and lack of empathy.”
“ Government, at all levels, should consider a
form of the structured welfare system to alleviate poverty in the populace.”
The Northern leaders also advised the Federal
Government to postpone the planned 2022 National Census in view of the large
numbers of displaced Nigerians and proximity of the census to the 2023
elections,
They urged the National and States’ Assemblies
to prioritise constitutional amendments currently being processed and advised
President Muhammadu Buhari to accent to the proposed amendments to the
Electoral Act, as this would improve the quality of elections.
The group charged key Northern groups to engage
Southerners to improve understanding, lower tension and contribute to the
creation of an atmosphere that would allow all Nigerians to live in peace with
each other.
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