The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has said the Northern region would be more comfortable with a President from the South-South in 2023 instead of the South-East.
The CNG spokesperson, Suleiman Abdul-Azeez, who spoke to Vanguard Newspaper on Tuesday, welcomed the purported defection of former President Goodluck Jonathan from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying the north would prefer Jonathan becoming the president.
Abdul-Azeez also said though the rumoured defection was not yet confirmed, Jonathan’s move to the APC could be Nigeria’s saving grace.
“I think all the same, you never see smoke without fire. If it does happen eventually, it could be the saving grace.
“The reality is that the APC may lack the moral correctness to retain power in the North beyond these first eight years of Buhari. If power must shift to the South, the North would be more comfortable with the South-South. It is a more friendly space for the North,” Abdul-Azeez said.
The CNG spokesman added that though the ex-President is the most qualified candidate from the South-South, the APC would still have the burden of marketing him after they had spent years insulting him.
“Jonathan is by far the most qualified from the South-South among all those that have indicated interest. The problem would be the burden the APC would have to carry having so severely ‘de-campaigned’ Jonathan just less than eight years ago.
“Unless they first apologize to him and to Nigerians generally and admit they judged his administration against the standards of fair judgment, they would only end up embarrassing themselves in the marketplace.
“Besides it would be really difficult for the APC to convince the Northern voter to accept Jonathan after they bloodied him in 2014. And there is the concern that he may return with a grudge against the North and may not be as fair as would be expected.
“But taking away all unhealthy possibilities, Jonathan could provide a soothing relief to this current regional tensions being stocked by separatist forces,” the CNG said.
Ripplesnigeria.com