Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the Yoruba Stakeholders Summit Group, YSSG, has s..ent an apepla to politicians in the South-West geo-political zone to lend their support to presidential aspirants from other zones in the South.
Addresing a press conference in Lagos on Wednesday, conveners of the group, Comrades Olufemi Lawson and Oladosu Rasaq, said that the need for the South-West to support other zones in Southern Nigeria is for justice, equity, fairness and unity to be enthroned in the country.
YSSG said, “We have observed with serious concern, the open and silent demand and declaration by some politicians in the South-West, jostling to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari, come 2023. Not only did we find this insensitive, but it is also self serving and unjust.
“Over the time, we have been at the forefront of the call, for political parties in the country, to have their presidential ticket zoned to the Southern part of the country. We are also of the strong opinion, and conviction, that some part of the Southern Nigeria, deserves the Presidency more than the South-West, for the sake of equity and justice and for that cause we are here gathered.
“We wish to use this medium to assert that it is not yet our turn, as the people of the South-West, and to categorically demand, that all major political parties should zone their presidential slot to the other geopolitical zones of the South, vis-a-vis the South-South, whose turn was short-lived under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan and the South-East, which has never had a shot at the Presidency of Nigeria, since the advent of the current republic. This remains an important way to ensure equity and fair play ahead of the 2023 presidential election.
“For the purpose of reminder, in this fourth republic alone, our region have produced a President in Chief Olusegun Obasanjo for eight years, Honorable Dimeji Bankole as Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives for over three years, just as the APC in 2015, graciously zoned its vice presidential ticket to the South-West, a position presently occupied by Professor Yemi Osinbajo.
“Only in 2019, the nation’s 4th seat, that is, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, became occupied by another Yoruba man, Right Honorable Femi Gbajabiamila. Then arises the question of our sense of equity and fairness, if some politicians assume that whatever political position is zoned to the Southern Nigeria, must be taken by the South-West. This impression need to stop.”
The group, therefore, appealed to politicians who are asking that zoning should be jettisoned, or that zoning should no longer be considered, to realize that they are trying to perpetuate injustice, which is against the unity of the country.
The YSSG further averred that the South-West has had a fair share in governance in the present fourth republic and as such, should allow others to produce the next President.
It added, “2023 is a crucial moment that will determine a lot, in the stability or otherwise, of our democracy. Nigerians should be given the opportunity, to elect a leader, who can stabilize the polity and move the country forward from where the administration will handover in 2023. Ensuring a peaceful polity will only be achievable, when we allow equity and justice, in the distribution of power, between every component of the country.
“We wish to call on genuine democrats, among politicians of Yoruba extraction, aspiring for the Presidency come 2023, to throw their support, behind candidates from the two other geopolitical zones of the South, in the overall interest of a peaceful and prosperous Nigeria.”
