By Akinwale Kasali
Crisis is looming large in Nigeria. That is the verdict of former All Progressive Congress, APC, member and the Senator who represented Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the last Senate, Shehu Sani. He said the only way to avoid it is if the North vacates the Presidency in 2023.
Sani has, therefore, sent a note of warning to the North, urging the region to step aside at the expiration of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration for another region to come on board.
Sani warned that crisis might erupt ahead of 2023 if other regions in the country are not allowed a shot at the Presidency.
The former lawmaker stressed that the concept of rotation of power is simply to give every section of the country the opportunity to feel that yes, “we are equal stakeholders in the enterprise called Nigeria”.
Sani: “If one part of the country now continues to dominate the political sphere, they can take the mantle of leadership, but they will not be able to have the peace to preside over the affairs of the country forever.
“But my position on this is that President Muhammadu Buhari came to power with the support of the South. It would be logical enough that we understand the diversities of Nigeria, and the need to always balance our own personal interests and agenda with the need to sustain the unity, peace, and orderliness of the country.
“A lot of meetings are going on in the north today, and I can tell you that they are gaining traction. And part of the reasons, some of them told me, was that they believe that this government has served more people in the South than it has served people in the North.
“So that is the argument which many of them have given and you see, sometimes, words have life. If a prominent Northerner who is well respected now avers that we are not going to respect the principle of rotation of power and the North will continue to have it forever, if you do not have a strong counter-argument on that, it will settle in the minds of the people.
“What stops the leaders from the North moving to Chief Edwin Clark’s house in Abuja, or down there in the South-south, to discuss with him? These are issues that I believe we should resolve. But we should understand that if one part of the country is not prepared to rotate power to another part of the country, we are simply setting a road map to chaos, disunity, disenfranchisement and crisis in Nigeria”, Senator Sani insisted.
