It is still three years ahead of the battle for the 2023 Presidency, but the drumbeats of political war are very loud, even to the deaf, as gladiators begin permutations towards the actualisation of their dreams.

This piece examines the array of politicians being paraded in the southern parts of Nigeria, and the impending rivalry between the South-East and the South-West geo-political zones.

There is no doubt that the 2023 election is going to be a tough battle as the road to the Presidency is set to pitch the South East against the South West.

Though there is no constitutional backing for zoning, there seems to be an unwritten agreement that the Presidency should be rotational between the North and the South.

The gentleman agreement cuts across all political divides, including the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Though the quest for a president from the South East seems to be drawing concerns from stakeholders across the county, with the array of politicians being paraded by both zones, the battle is set to be fierce.

Among those being paraded by the South West include; Vice Preident Yemi Osinbajo, the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola; a former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democartic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George; Senior Pastor of the Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare; and Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, among others.

In the South East, the likes of former governor of Anambra state, Chief Peter Obi; a former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, governors Willy Obiano and Dave Umahi of Anambra and Ebonyi states respectively; Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige; and a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Charles Soludo, are among those being touted.

Some campaigners have argued that the Igbo nation remains the only major ethnic group that is yet to occupy the Presidency in this democratic dispensation, as such; the South East should be supported for the top job in 2023.

They have gone ahead to narrow the selection process to a race between Obi and Ekweremadu because the duo had the highest number of followers, considering their political antecedents. Stakeholders in the South West are leaving nothing to chance as they have also begun campaigns for a united and common front, irrespective of political divides, ahead of the 2023 general elections.

Though some leaders of the Yoruba zone are still amazed at the decision of Chief Bode George to vie for the Presidency, saying it would pitch the former Military Administrator of Ondo State against Tinubu and put the South West in a tight corner, others argued that it is a good sign, as it would reenact the 1999 race, in which the two major parties featured Yoruba politicians.

Chief Setonji Akinade, a public commentator recalled: “In 1999, Chief Olu Falae was pitched against General Olusegun Obasanjo.

It was a tough decision to be reached but It was in the best interest of the region because the two major parties put forward our sons.

“In 2023, if the PDP brings forward Bode George and the APC fields Tinubu, it will be a good thing for the South West, because it is an assurance that the Presidency will be coming back to the zone.

Rooting for the Yoruba race

However, the APC had been warned by one of its own, not to renege on its zoning formula. The pioneer National Vice Chairman of APC in the North East, Umar Duhu, asked his party to continue with its zoning arrangement and ensure that the party ceded power to the South West in 2023.

Warning that the APC might lose its hold on the political power if it jettisons the zoning arrangement, Duhu said it would be unfortunate if the party quits the political stage after just two terms.

Duhu, who also warned the North against any attempt to retain power beyond 2023, said such an idea would be resisted by all democratic forces in the country, just as he accused Buhari of failing to provide the right leadership for the APC.

He also recalled that former President Goodluck Jonathan was ousted in 2015 because he reneged on an earlier zoning agreement that power should shift to the North. “I am afraid, if the APC decides to retain power in the North, not only the party but Northerners would lose woefully.

In 2010 when President Umar Yar’Adua passed on, the indication that power should remain in the North was on the front burner.

“But the North was persuaded to allow Jonathan to be, on condition that power would return to the North in 2015. It was not as if the APC was more popular or more strategic than the PDP; the overriding sentiment was that power must shift to the North”, Duhu said.

Also, the Organising Secretary of the APC in Adamawa State, Ahmad Lawan, has said that a politician of South West extraction will be the flag bearer of the party in 2023.

Lawan, who insisted that the region deserves to produce the presidential candidate given its support for Buhari, said that he would personally campaign for a Yoruba man to become the president in 2023 while arguing that the APC stands a better chance of winning the 2023 election if it picks a South West candidate for the presidency.

“It should even be considered an inordinate ambition for any Northerner to contest for the presidential ticket against candidates from South West. The ticket belongs to the South West and every APC member should work towards making it a reality. “In 2015, the South West shelved its interest for the North and Buhari. They did the same thing in the 2019.

That is a friendship and partnership that the North must maintain and a kindness that must be repaid”, Lawan said.

A voice for Tinubu

But in a twist of events, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation Babachir Lawal, who is believed to be a strong ally of President Muhammadu Buhari has thrown his weight behind the rumoured ambition of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

Lawal, who was sacked by the Buhari administration in 2017, after much public outcry against him, had said, during a recent chat, that the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has the qualities to become the president in 2023.

Though the former SGF said that “there’s no law that mandates the ceding of power to the South-West”, he noted that the former governor of Lagos State has all it takes to succeed Buhari in 2023. He also warned that Igbo politicians might not get the nominations of any of the major political parties because the leaders of the zone had not done enough to warrant such tickets.

“By 2023, Buhari’s tenure would have been over and he will go back to Daura to face his cows like I am doing. But you see, every leader must leave behind a legacy. I will like to see that he leaves behind a legacy of achievements.

“Tinubu is my friend of many years. Buhari is my big boss. Tinubu, without prejudice that he’s my friend, will make a good president. Other issues notwithstanding, Tinubu will make a good modern president because the presidency is scientific.

“Nigerians, by convention, seem to have agreed that there should be rotation of the presidency. But Igbo politicians may not get the nominations of the major political parties. Political leaders in the South East have not been working together to actualise an Igbo presidency”, the former SSG said.

Tinubu: Not yet time

However, the National Leader of the APC has refused to be drawn into the controversy, saying it is too early for such political talks.

Speaking while briefing journalists after a meeting with Buhari on Tuesday, Tinubu, who is believed to be eyeing the presidency in 2023, also refuted the allegations that Buhari is working on a ‘third term’ agenda.

“Anybody talking about that now is just completely restless and not focused on the agenda of nation-building and development of our country. I was in the trench and in the opposition with Muhammadu Buhari, till the Third Term agenda of a former leader of this country failed. “So, I know he will never. Buhari has the courage and the character to refuse such a temptation even if offered to him.

I believe in him and I believe Nigerians should also believe in him. “He doesn’t need to say it to me, I will argue it in the corner and everywhere they bring such a thing up. However, it’s very good to hear it from him. The challenge of turning the ship of this nation around is a continuum and a continuous effort and that is what we should get ourselves concerned with.

“Politics is intoxicating, it’s flamboyant, it’s interesting, but we cannot continue in perpetuity one after the other. We have to relax, show concern for the people of the country and see to the efforts of the president that will manifest in the new, united and prosperous country. We are still not there.

“That time is not now. We have just finished one election and Mr. President is busy sorting out the budget, working for the people of this country. Of course, restlessness of politics is going to be there, but any lover of this country will not talk about the succession plan yet. That’s the truth. “Concentrate on working for the country, help the president to help the country. There’s nothing more than that. We cannot use 365 days in a year and 360° to work on politics, it’s not possible. Anybody talking about that now is just completely restless and not focused on the agenda of nation building and development of our country”, Tinubu said.

Yoruba Ronu to back good candidate

But one of the South West sociopolitical organisations, The Yoruba Ronu, has said it will only support a candidate with the desire and energy to strengthen Nigeria’s diversity. In a statement issued by the president of the group, Mr. Akin Malaolu, the Yoruba Ronu said the group would lend its support to a candidate that was ready to continue with the policies of President Buhari, and that he or she must be a Nigerian by blood and by birth.

“The clamour for the presidency of Nigeria come 2023 is no longer at the back burner and the wish of several diverse groups and tribes to be given the opportunity to occupy the presidential seat is everyone’s democratic right.

“But before we plunge the nation into political troubles due to foreseen competition that may likely be provoked, our leadership forum, for these reasons, met and took the following decision. “Such must also have the desire and energy to strengthen our diversity as well as the continuation of the policies of President Buhari’s administration, which has brought sanity and respect to our humanity and must have the requisite calibre and probity to be president of the nation,” it stated.

“We shall take a common stand with the political leaders of the entire South West, including Kwara and Kogi states. However, our decision on the rotation of the presidency will be in line with our wishes for Nigeria and Nigerians regardless of tribe or religion. Those who are goading us to support a particular tribe or personality should let us be until the need arises”, the statement read.

Igbos clamour for own region

Adding his voice to the need for an Igbo presidency, the President- General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief John Nwodo, warned those plotting against the South East not to throw the country into chaos.

Nwodo further asked the APC and the PDP to look in the direction of the South-East when it is time to pick their presidential candidates for the 2023 general election. Nwodo’s assertion was supported by Ekweremadu, who said that the presidency of Nigeria is dependent on the mood of the nation, and that the mood presently favours the South East.

The former Deputy Senate President (DSP) argued that no single part of the nation can fight for the presidency in isolation of others.

He recalled that in 1999, when former President Olusegun Obasanjo was elected, the mood of the nation was in favour of a Yoruba president, and that the same mood of the nation changed towards the North in 2015 when former President Goodluck Jonathan lost the presidential election to Buhari.

Also wanting to ensure that the South East got the slot, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council (ONYC) urged the governors in the region to defect to the APC in order to actualise the region’s dream of producing a president in 2023.

The group’s stance came on the heels of the move by an APC member in Ebonyi State, Charles Enya, to get President Buhari another term in office, saying the ruling party holds the key for the future of the Igbo people in 2023.

In a statement issued by the President-General of the group, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, the ONYC described Enya’s call for the amendment of the Constitution to allow President Buhari get another term as a joke that should not be allowed to pass.

The pan-Igbo group however commended Buhari for denouncing the third term agenda being pushed by Enya. In the same vein, the National Chairman of the United Progressives Party (UPP), Chief Chekwa Okorie, agreed that the clamour for an Igbo presidency has become a national consensus, while alluding to the support of the Igbo cause by people of other extractions.

“People who are not of Igbo political leadership are the ones who appear to be championing the cause for our people. So, we cannot afford not to show seriousness in the way we engage others and the way we redefine our political strategy”.

“The truth remains that the likes of Edwin Clark, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Gen Ishola Williams (retd.) and Senator Emmanuel Buwacha from Taraba State, who are non-Igbo, have said it is our turn. And if an Igbo man would wake up and say, no it is not our time; I begin to wonder where the person is coming from”, he said.

Where will the pendulum swing?

Although, three years is a long period in politics, the next couple of months will begin to shape the political landscape, as it is believed that the North may alter the calculations.

The likes of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the governors of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, both of whom took a shot at the presidency in 2019 are said to still be nursing ambition to rule the country.

This is aside from the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el- Rufai, who is said to be eyeing the top seat. As such, the support or opposition from the North as well as the unity or otherwise of politicians from the South will determine, to a large extent, where the pendulum will swing in 2023. (New Telegraph)

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