As the 2023 presidential elections draw near, the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), has warned against the retention of power in the North.
PANDEF National Publicity Secretary, Ken Robinson in statement on Tuesday said Nigeria will no longer be what it has been if another northerner emerges president in 2023.
The group who has been vocal against another northerner succeeding President Muhammadu Buhari after eight years of “sectional government”, vowed to mobilise Nigerians to reject the emergence of another northern president in 2023
“When the campaign starts, we will mobilise ourselves, speak to good Nigerians in Northern Nigeria and in Southern Nigeria why the next president of Nigeria should come from the Southern part of Nigeria.
“Anything short of that, and we are not saying this as a threat, yes, we were in a meeting with people from the Dutch Embassy, three days ago I was in a meeting with the British High commissioner, and we told them this thing that Nigeria will no longer be what it has been if the next president goes North,” he warned.
The group decried the sectional appointment of service chiefs citing the headship of 17 military, para-military and Intelligence security agencies in the country, which it revealed 14 of them were manned by Northerners while only three were Southerners.
In the same vein, the group noted that out of 11 key management and board positions at the Nigerian National Petroleum Commission Limited, Buhari appointed 7 northerners while 4 are southern Nigeria.
The group maintained that, by right, power must return to the south, an open rejection of the candidacy of PDP’s Atiku Abubakar and NNPP’s Rabiu Kwankwaso.
“The statement is not a threat. And we are serious. We will mobilise our people in the creeks, in the farm lands to the streets across Nigeria to work together,” PANDEF said.