2027: It’s Unconstitutional To Tell North Not To Contest Presidency –ACF

Apex northern socio-cultural organisation, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), has said it is unconstitutional to tell Nigerians of northern extraction not to contest the presidency in the 2027 general elections but wait till 2031.

The ACF maintained that nobody can force candidates from the North from contesting the presidential election, arguing that the constitution does not state that the presidency must revolve or rotate between the North and the South.

Speaking with LEADERSHIP Weekend, ACF national publicity secretary, Prof. Tukur Muhammad Baba, who was reacting to remarks that the northern region should wait till 2031 for the presidency, said people were denying themselves the benefits of the best of Nigerians by insisting that a candidate must wear certain primordial gaps of religion, region or tribe among others.

He said, “The remarks are not new, they are part of the normal, prosaic remarks we get from some politicians who are comfortable with the current political arrangement as it is. So it is not new. So many, like him have said so before. But then the most fundamental error, the most fundamental mistake in this, they are not talking from the point of view of constitution.

“There is nothing constitutional that says leadership, the presidency must revolve, must rotate between the North and the South. It’s not, whatever any politician says has no value whatsoever. To that extent, the governor was only expressing a personal opinion, and that is as far as it goes.

“If it is true Kano governor said so, he is a citizen and is entitled to say so. So many have said so before him, so there is nothing new but again, he cannot force it. Thirdly, making this is giving democracy a new name, these people making such remarks may at will may as well go back and tell citizens in the North not to bother voting at all, you know it doesn’t make sense, we are practicing what we call provincial politics as if we don’t understand the tenets of democracy but then like I said, again this is what the Constitution provides, anybody can air their opinion. The remarks are not binding on anybody in the North for that matter.”

The ACF spokesman added, “Also, it is one of the reasons why our country, our politics, have remained backwards. We look at allocations rather than credibility, ability, suitability, competence and so on.

“We are denying ourselves the benefits of the best of us by insisting a candidate must wear certain primordial gaps religion, tribe and so on and so forth forever we are oscillating from one extreme end to another looking for a way forward what and so long as we are doing such oscillation it is like a tennis table, tennis spectator always constantly moving the head from the left to the right from the left to the right following the ball and so on.

To me I think it is a retrogressive ideology to insist on that but then again like I said it is a personal opinion. Thank God it is a personal opinion, it is not binding upon anybody so I don’t think we need to worry about that” he stated.