NATIONAL chairmanship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mohammed Bello Mustapha, has urged the party to honour a gentleman’s agreement for power shift to the South in 2023.
While addressing journalists in Lagos on Monday, the former Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) governorship candidate in Taraba State said it was agreed at the founding of the APC that power would rotate between the North and the South.
He said, “There was an understanding, which all of us are very much aware of when our party came on board in 2013/2014, that power should rotate between the North and the South. By power, I mean the Presidency and the leadership of the party.
“So many of our elders and leaders made so many sacrifices to bring this party on board. People like us will never forget such sacrifices and we believe that the understanding that was entered into must be strictly adhered to.
“The Presidency should return to the South, and the national chairmanship of the party should go to the North,” he said.
“It is high time our elders stepped aside to give youths a chance to lead the political parties. The youth, with their population, must dictate who becomes what in 2023.
“We must begin a healing process. We must give everyone a sense of belonging. The Nigeria of our dream is where everyone can aspire to power no matter where they come from.
“Nigeria’s unity is paramount and sacrosanct and that can only be guaranteed when we adhere to zoning. With mutual understanding and inclusion, even those calling for secession will reconsider.”
