2023: Yoruba summit group asks political parties to zone presidency to south-south, south-east

The Yoruba Stakeholders Summit Group (YSSG) has asked political parties to zone their 2023 presidential slots to the south-south, south-east.

Speaking with journalists in Lagos on Wednesday, Olufemi Lawson, the group’s spokesperson, said other regions in the south deserve the presidency more than the south-west.

The group also maintained that zoning the presidential slots to other regions in the south will create room for equity and justice in the nation’s political system.

“As the nation looks forward to the expiration of the tenure of the incumbent President Muhammad Buhari and warms up for the 2023 presidential election, we have gathered here today conscious of our place in history, and as patriotic citizens, to demand for equity and fairness, as a step, towards consolidating, on our firm commitment, to the unity of Nigeria,” Lawson 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. No 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 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 2023 presidential election.

“For the purpose of reminder, in this fourth republic alone, our region has 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 fouth seat, that is, the speaker of the house of representatives became occupied by another Yoruba man, 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 needs to stop.”

The group added that the stability of the nation’s democracy can only be guaranteed when there is equal distribution of power among every region of the country.

The Yoruba Stakeholders Summit Group further asked politicians in the south-west, who are aspiring for the presidency in 2023, to throw their support behind candidates from the two other geopolitical zones of the south in the overall interest the country.