As the general election draws near, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the candidate for president of the governing All Progressive Congress (APC), has been wooing support from former president Goodluck Jonathan's supporters in the South East and South South geopolitical zones.
At the formal flag-raising ceremony for the campaign in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State, supporters of Jonathan from the Citizens Network for Peace and Development in Nigeria (CNPDN) said that the country's next leader must be from the south.
The group, which is strongly supported in the South-South and South-East geopolitical zones and is led by Mr Francis Okereke Wainwei, insisted that their position was in line with the call for a transfer of power from the North to the South when President Muhammadu Buhari's term expires on May 29, 2023.
The Southern Governors' Forum and the Northern Governors' Forum of the APC have all advocated for the election of a Southern President in 2023, and Bayelsa State native Wainwei explained their position to reporters.
He described the basic justification for his support of the Southern candidate for president in 2023 as the development of national harmony, equity, fairness, and justice.
“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.