Former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, on Saturday hinted that the greatest threat to Nigeria’s national unity is the refusal to shift power to the South in 2023.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain disclosed this in a post via his official Facebook page, emphasizing on the need for the South i.e the APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu to take over instead of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

He wrote, “The greatest threat to Nigeria’s national unity is the refusal to shift power to the South next year. Nothing could be more dangerous to our national cohesion than another 8 years of Fulani rule after President Muhammadu Buhari.

“The Northern Governors of the APC themselves made this point and saw this danger and consequently insisted on a power shift to the South.

“To my utter surprise and consternation they did not just say no to another Fulani but they went further by saying no to ANY Northerner including those that were not Fulani.

“To them it was a matter of honor because this was the commitment that they had made in 2015 when President Buhari came to power. They said that they would not break their word or renege on that agreement under any circumstances.

“That gesture alone is the single greatest act of self-denial and sacrifice that any ethnic or regional group has made in our entire history and we should commend them for it.

“A Northerner could have easily emerged as the APC Presidential candidate at our Convention if the Northern Governors had not thrown their collective weight behind a Southerner by the name of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and opted for him.

“If they had chosen to support a Northerner the consequence would have been that we would have ended up having to make a choice between two Northern candidates from the two major political parties of APC and PDP in next year’s presidential election.

“That way power would have ended up remaining in the North whichever of the two candidates ended up winning.

“The Northerners of the APC could have had it in the bag and gone home smiling yet they put the interests of the party, the nation and the South first and said NO!

“They insisted that power must shift regardless and they displayed maturity and a very high degree of responsible behaviour even though at the time some of us did not fully appreciate their point. Yet today few would dispute the fact that they have been vindicated.

“Simply put, their decision was selfless, historic, honorable and heroic. Anyone that does not acknowledge or fully appreciate the implications of what they did does not know or understand politics and cannot comprehend the very real dangers that another 8 years of Northern rule would have presented for the unity of our nation.

“Yet they were not alone. A few months before the APC Northern Governors took their stand, the Southern Governors had met in Asaba ACROSS party lines and they ALL agreed that power must shift to the South in 2023.

“This was a bold and audacious move which formed part of the basis and an additional reason and incentive for the Northern APC Governors to make their concession and take their noble stand a few months later.

“Apart from the earlier stated reasons they also did so out of deferrence and respect to the wishes of their Southern counterparts in the party who, led by Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo state, continued to insist that the agreement to shift power to the South must not be breached under any circumstances.

“Unlike two or three of the Southern Governors in the PDP who sadly broke ranks and dishonored their word by supporting a Northen candidate at their party convention, the APC Northern and Southern Governors never wavered. They stood to the last man, they stood firm and they delivered.

“That is how Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu emerged as the flagbearer of our party and the entire nation should reciprocate and reward their gesture by ensuring that he goes on to win the presidential election next year.

“We must stand with him, pray for him, fight for him, mobilise for him and ensure that he wins convincingly and, once victorious, we must be prepared to defend his mandate with all we have got.

“There will be no repeat of June 12th under any circumstances and contrary to the disinformation being peddled around by our detractors there is no such plan or conspiracy in the offing by those in power today.

“We must also be ready to make difficult and uncomfortable sacrifices and live with the hard choices that the candidate has made, knowing that he made them in good faith, in order to win.

“The real patriots and party loyalists are those who may have strong reservations about a Muslim/Muslim ticket but who are prepared to overlook that in the interest of a power shift to the South knowing that this will finally put to rest the notion that Southerners are slaves and second class citizens and the erroneous idea that the APC is a party for Northerners only.

“This is where yours truly stands together with many others that share my Christian faith. Unlike that of others, our reaction to a Muslim/Muslim ticket is not emotional or hysterical but rather practical, calm, calculating and level headed.

“It is clear to me and I can confirm this after a series of meetings with both the candidate and his Vice that it is a position that he has taken as a consequence of political expediency and not out of any misguided or shameless attempt to spite, injure, insult or denigrate the 110 million Christians in our country,” Fani-Kayode added. (Daily Independent)

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