Why we support Southern presidential candidate — Arewa group

Forum 1 year ago

Why we support Southern presidential candidate — Arewa group

Ahead of the February 25 presidential election, the Arewa New Agenda, a socio-political group from the north said that its preference for a presidential candidate from the southern part of the country was for the sake of equity and fairness.

The group in a statement by Sen. Ahmad Abubakar MoAllahyidi, Convener of Arewa New Agenda also said that in all the presidential candidates contesting in the election, only the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate has records of achievements.

According to the statement, “The Arewa New Agenda believes in the indivisibility of the Nigerian state, and in the promotion of unity among Nigerians for nation building. Northerners appreciate the principles of reciprocity, fairness and corporate existence, where one leans his support to the other partner irrespective of his comparative advantages.

“Arewa New Agenda acknowledges that the south has eminently qualified citizens with requisite capacity to be President of Nigeria at any given time; yet, they supported a northerner to become Nigerian president in (2015 and 2019) in the spirit of fairness to cite a simple example. It is therefore appropriate for the North to return the “same favor” in like manner today.

“The Arewa New Agenda continues to call on millions of her members and non-members alike to see the imperativeness of fairness and equity and cast their votes for Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, because we have seen and touched what he has done, unlike the other presidential candidates that cannot say what they have done but what they will do.

“We are convinced that, not much will change in policy terms unless the politics changes. Change of politics at this time is power shift to the South.

At this critical moment, Nigerians are gripped with the fear of uncertainty, un-patriotic elements continue to over-heat the polity causing anxiety, anger and stress; all sorts of negative permutations, fake news, incitements become the order of the day for “fifth columnists”.

“ This state of affairs characterized our electioneering processes in the last six election cycles; at each of these turns, the North will rise up and play the role of the vanguard of a renewed hope by bringing to bear on the electoral process its immense voting power to stabilize the polity by voting wisely for the benefit of the greater Nigeria. This time around the Arewa New Agenda expects no less and suffice it to say that it is more expedient now than ever in this digital Age. It will be expedient to provide some useful I information:

“INEC has registered 93 million eligible voters (WE hope they all vote) we would like to say that out of this number, students and women constitute nearly 40%, some of these will be first time voters. Another important information is that in 2019, there were 84 million eligible voters, meaning that from 2019 to 2022, about 9 million new voters were added to the national voters register.

“Voter turnout in Nigerian Presidential elections is 52.3% in 1999, it rose to 69.1% in 2003, and then the decline began: 57.4% in 2007, 53.7% in 2011 and 43.6% in 2015 and 34.75% in 2019.

The highest voter turnout recorded in Nigeria in the last 6 election cycle is 69.1% and that was 20 years ago. We therefore urge the people of the North to come out en masse and vote in the 2023 presidential and other elections.

“ANA wishes to further reiterate that the emergence of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the flagbearer of the APC in the 2023 Presidential election is a product of the salient Nigerian agreement of promoting cohesion and strengthening connections by shifting power from North to South on periodic basis.

We make the case for supporting Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu; having him as President will consolidate and deepen the roots of shift in the political psychology of Nigerians, that is, rotating power between the North and the South.

“This promises to have long lasting benefit for national peace and stability, which in turn is necessary for any further socio-economic progress. The quest for rotational presidency (Power shift) can be gleaned from happenings as far back as in 1980 when the country was struggling to adjust to the new federal character provision in the 1979 Constitution, many analysts argued that the formula discarded merit; but elders at that time posit that maintaining peaceful coexistence and sense of belonging in a plural society is the highest aspiration and goal of a nation, and there is no other consideration above that”