Ahead of the 2027 general election, a coalition under the auspices of North Central Renaissance Movement (NCRM) is demanding that the presidency be ceded to the Northcentral geopolitical zone.
The coalition insisted that having not produced an elected president or vice president since independence, the zone comprising; Niger, Kogi, Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa, Kwara and the FCT- Abuja should be given the chance to occupy any of these offices.
NCRM in a communique issued at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday said if the All Progressives Congress (APC), chooses to give President Bola Tinubu the right of first refusal to fly the party’s ticket in 2027, then it must ensure his running mate emerged from Northcentral while other political parties must feature presidential candidates from the zone.
Chairperson of the coalition, Prof. Nghargbu K’tso, lamented the situation where no one from Northcentral had held the office of president and vice president since independence, but the zone produced the highest number of national chairman of ruling parties from 1999 to date.
K’tso noted that Nigeria’s experience with military interregnums was an aberration which operated by such paradigms entirely different from hallowed democratic tenets and processes; hence the coalition’s demand is for a democratically elected president and vice president.
He said, an enumeration of Nigerian presidents and vice presidents since 1999 showed that only the Northcentral and the Southeast geopolitical zones have not occupied these offices in the 26 years of the 4th Republic.
The NCRM leader, however said, the case of the Northcentral was worse than that of the Southeast, in that the latter had the consolation of having produced Dr Alex Ekwueme from 1979 to 1983 via democratic elections and again in 1983 when he won re-election for a second term in office as vice president to Shehu Shagari before their removal by the military.
“The position of chairman of a political party is one which serves to make powerful individuals without corresponding constitutional powers to help their people or region with the fruits of governance and development. Here, in this barren position, the North Central, for some reason, has dominated.
“…It seems our leaders have concluded that despite their many years in top leadership as governors, senators or ministers, they are by some unspoken code ineligible, unqualified or excluded from contesting to fly their parties’ flags as presidential candidates.
“From all appearances, they do not even see themselves emerging as Vice Presidential Candidates. The big question is why? This mindset, whether real or imagined, is one which the present generation must stop before it infects and affects coming generations in the North Central. That is why the NCRM was birthed as a voice of reason and advocacy for the Zone, and there is no better time than the current political dispensation to terminate this unwholesome trajectory. We do this by proving that we have the same aspirational liberties as any of our fellow citizens from any part of Nigeria.
“The NCRM has a simple demand to make in this regard – we implore our leaders to aim higher as we are not “second class” citizens in this country.
“Having outlined above, how the North Central’s historical exclusion from the top 2 offices in the nation outstrips any claims to political marginalisation by any other geopolitical zone, we speak strongly that the demands of equity, fairness, justice and political inclusiveness can begin to be met by the lead opposition party, the PDP, and the governing party, the APC, picking their 2027 presidential and vice presidential candidates from our zone respectively.
“All other political parties that aspire to lead this country in two years’ time should also take a cue from this expected political justice sought by the People of the North Central. Such an action will simultaneously satisfy the demands of political astuteness expected of any Party which has her hands on the pulse of the nation.
“It is on this premise that we, the North Central Renaissance Movement (NCRM) demand in the interest of fairness, equity and justice that the Office of President of Nigeria be ceded to the North Central in 2027,” the communique read.
