The presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has been courting support from former President Goodluck Jonathan’s base in the South East and South South geopolitical zones as the general election nears.
Members of the Citizens Network for Peace and Development in Nigeria (CNPDN), who are supporters of Jonathan, stated that the next president of Nigeria must come from the South during the campaign’s official flag-raising ceremony in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State.
The organisation, led by Mr Francis Okereke Wainwei and with a strong following in the South-South and South-East geopolitical zones, insisted that their stance was in line with the call for a transfer of power from the North to the South when President Muhammadu Buhari’s term ends on May 29, 2023.
While briefing reporters, Wainwei, a native of Bayelsa State, said that their stance was in line with that of the APC’s Northern Governors Forum and the Southern Governors’ Forum, all of which have called for a Southern President to be elected in 2023.
He cited the promotion of national unity, equity, fairness, and justice as the fundamental rationale for backing the Southern candidate for president in 2023.
“Our position that the next President of our country should come from the South is driven by the same vision and principles,” he told reporters.
“We believe strongly that such will strengthen the unity and peace of the nation; it will give a better sense of belonging to the people of Southern Nigeria and foster a more viable peaceful co-existence among Nigerians.
“We were therefore surprised by the betrayal of the same cause by some of the Southern Governors, especially the South-South Governors, except Nyesom Wike, who had earlier declared for a Southern President, to abandon same and started pursuing their interests instead of the collective interest of the region.
“We are, therefore, calling on the South-South governors who have betrayed their people by supporting another Northern candidate to take over from Buhari after eight years of a president from the North to resign immediately.
“This is because the people of the South-South zone can no longer trust them with their common heritage as they have placed their personal interests above the collective interest of their people.
“Our call on them to resign is also premised on the fact that they recently received vast sums of money via the 13% derivation fund and squandered the same in pursuit of their personal interests at the expense of their people.
“We are also calling on the South-South States’ Houses of Assembly to impeach the said governors if they fail to resign as requested. We shall mobilise our members across the South-South States to force the said governors to resign or get impeached.
“We can’t allow such selfish governors to continue to govern us anymore. We must all place the collective interest of our people above our personal interests for our region to experience holistic and accelerated development.”
“To ensure that a Southern President is elected in 2023, we hereby call on all our members and people of the South East and the South-South zones to massively vote for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for President in 2023.
“Tinubu is the easiest means to electing a President from Southern extraction in 2023.
“He has nationwide acceptance and has the requisite political experience to navigate Nigeria to greatness as President of Nigeria.”
The non-partisan Coalition has urged its members in Rivers State to vote en masse for Siminalayi Fubara, the gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In addition, we want to use this forum to encourage Rivers State voters to support Siminalayi Fubara, the PDP’s candidate for governor of Rivers State.
“We are supporting the PDP gubernatorial candidate in Rivers State because of the massive infrastructural development built by the current PDP government in the State,” he said.
The Coalition contributed N1 million to Tinubu’s campaign to help him win votes in the two regions.