2023 Presidency: ‘Northern govs. didn’t oppose power shift’ …but – El-Rufai clears air

The Kaduna state governor, Nasir El Rufai , has cleared the air that the Northern States Governors’ Forum did not oppose the idea of zoning presidency to the south in 2023, rather it is against the language used in the resolution of the Southern governors.

El-Rufai disclosed that northern governors were alarmed that their southern counterparts will use the word “must” in their agitation for power shift to the south after President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure in 2023.

He noted that the word ‘’must’’ is at variance with democracy which is characterized by negotiations and horse-trading by parties involved, often out of the public glare.

The former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) who made these clarifications in a media chat with selected Kaduna-based radio stations on Tuesday night, noted that the media misrepresented the resolution of the Northern Governors’ Forum meeting earlier held on Monday, on power shift.

Governor El-Rufai recalled that himself and “some other northern governors had earlier called for power shift in 2023 in their individual capacities in order to foster national unity and togetherness”, adding: “I was called names by our people for making that call.”

The governor who spoke in the Hausa language, also stated that “the North has supported southern presidential aspirants in the past,” recalling that it “supported Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s aspiration in 1999 and his re-election in 2003”.

He said southern governors should have reached out to their northern counterparts on the issue of power shift instead of playing to the gallery.

He pointed out that the APC has no provision of power shift in its constitution, adding that even the PDP which has it in its constitution, flouted their own law during President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration in 2011, where the president stood for re-election.