By IBRAHIM HASSAN WUYO

The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, AYCF, has reiterated that the North still wants the presidency in 2023 and would not cede power to the South.

President of the AYCF, Shettima Yerima, said in an interview on Tuesday that it irritates the entire North for some southern politicians to think that northerners will leave power for them in 2023.

He said: “How can you think we will cede power to the South in 2023? The North still wants the presidency. The South is in charge of the economy and they have everything, so why would they want to take away the only thing we have?

“What would you call that? Even if we are ceding power to the South in 2023, we should be considering people like Orji Uzor Kalu. He is someone the North trusts and the northern elders will give him their full support. Most Nigerians don’t know that Kalu’s incarceration emanated from conspiracy and betrayal from his own party, the APC.”

Yerima accused Ohanaeze and some chieftains of the All Progressives Congress, APC, of conspiracy during the travails of Senator Kalu Orji Kalu and thanked the northern elders for standing behind the former Governor of Abia State and Chief Whip of the Senate during his six months incarceration at Kuje custodial centre.

He accused APC leaders from the South of conspiring against Kalu because of 2023 presidential ambitions and slammed the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, and its leadership for keeping silent during the entire period of Kalu’s travails.

Yerima cautioned the North over the dangers of abandoning the former Governor in custody, adding that northern elders must be commended for “standing firm for Kalu” who he referred to as their “long-time ally, brother and friend.”

“We specifically thank Chairman of Northern Elders Forum, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, for proving critics wrong on the North’s stand on Kalu,” he said.

Yerima also thanked the Supreme Court and Justice Muhammad Liman of the Federal High Court for standing on the path of justice.

“It is very important to appreciate the justices of the Supreme Court and Justice Liman of the Federal High Court for their moral and professional courage to uphold justice. Kalu’s release is a victory for decency, for patriotism and respect for the rule of law. They once again proved that the Judiciary is the survival of democracy,” he said. (Vanguard)

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