Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule has expressed support for rotational presidency.
He said it is necessary for the next President to come from the South.
Some other governors in the North, including Babagana Umara Zulum (Borno), Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Abdullahi Umar Ganduje (Kano) and Aminu Bello Masari (Katsina), have publicly expressed support for power shift in 2023.
Sule spoke on Wednesday at the Government House in Lafia, the state capital, when he hosted supporters of Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura calling for the ex-governor to become All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman.
The governor was appointed the group’s patron.
He said it would be unfair for him, having benefitted from power rotation, to denounce same.
“That is why, from all indications, I have never said anything against the agitation for rotation of the presidency to the South. It’s because I don’t think it’s a bad idea for peace in Nigeria, if there is rotational presidency,” Sule said.
The governor stressed that for fairness and distribution, if the presidency is zoned to the South, the APC national chairmanship should be zoned to the North.
“The Northwest currently has a President that has at least two years to go. So, it will not be ideal to have a president and a chairman, even for one year, much less for two years, from the same zone.
“The Northeast has the Senate President, currently. It will not be ideal again to have the chairman from that zone. The only zone that is ideal to occupy that position is the Northcentral,” he said.
But a former Borno State Governor Ali Modu Sheriff – in the Northeast – has expressed interest in the chairmanship of the ruling party during its national convention in June.
Sheriff, who is a former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), spoke yesterday when he visited Governor Sule at the Government House in Lafia for his support.
The former governor said he would contest the position only if it is zoned to the Northeast.
According to him, having been a senator, governor for eight years and a former national chairman of the PDP, he possesses all the qualities to effectively manage the affairs of the ruling APC.
Sherrif said he was aware that Sule was supporting the Northcentral, particularly his state, to produce APC National Chairman.
Interestingly, Sule urged Sheriff to support the Northcentral to produce the next APC National Chairman.
