By Adesina Soyooye
From a surprising corner came a rebuke for the North over the 2023 Presidency.
Prof. Itse Sagay, Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, PACAC, has strongly disagree with Mamman Daura, President Muhammadu Buhari’s uncle, on the question of Rotational Presidency.
Daura had, in an interview a couple of weeks ago, condemned the idea of a Rotational Presidency, saying the most competent person should be the President.
He was responding to a question on if the Presidency should now rotate to the South, after the North’s right years which ends in 2023.
Daura responded by saying the Presidency should not be “turn by turn”, and should go to the most competent person.
A number of people had responded Daura, asking him if Buhari was the most competent person when he won the Presidency in 2015.
Speaking on the issue, without mentioning Daura’s name, Sagay said he was surprised that anybody would now be talking of competence, asking if there was a region in the country without competent people.
For him, the response ought to have been that any competent person from the South should be the President.
Flowing from that, Sagay accused the North of bad fate, saying the region had plans to retain power in perpetuity.
On competence versus rotation, Sagay said:
“People should not be clever because I’m seeing some cleverness in those who are now talking of competence. I would be more comfortable with them saying that, if the part of the country from which they do not come has spent eight years, then, if they talk of competence, I would take them very seriously.
“I see some of these talks of competence as a disguise for wanting perpetuation of power in one section of the country. There is no doubt about it.
“Both sides of the country have competent people. There is no monopoly of competence. If this is an arrangement that assuages all the feelings of the people to give them confidence that they have a role in running the country, and that their side of the country is respected in a manner that things are done and organised in the country, then, that political peace and quietude that rotation brings is worth it, and be respected.
“Either side has competent people. Those who are calling for competence should say, let somebody who is competent from the side, in this case, the South, come out and we support the person. Otherwise, there will be room for suspicion that we are dealing with irredentism or some sort.”
But Sagay’s submission has angered the Arewa Youths Consultative Forum, AYCF, which has warned Sagay that he cannot intimidate the North.
Yerima Shettima, its President General, who spoke on its behalf, described Sagay’s opinion as sad and unfortunate, adding that it was unbecoming of a man of Sagay’s status.
However, Sagay is on the same page with a number of the elite in the North, including Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, and former Secretary to the Federal Government, David Babachir, who say it is only morally right that the Presidential seat rotates to the South in 2023.
Not a few people think it should be the turn of the South East. The region is the only region from which Nigeria’s President has not emerged.
