2023 : Protesters storm PDP, APC secretariats; demand zoning of presidency to South

By INNOCENT OWEH, Abuja

The politicking for 2023 general elections took a dramatic turn on Monday, as over 1000 Civil Society Organisations stormed the secretariats of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), to demand that the presidency be zoned to the South.

The protesters, under the auspices of Coalition of Civil Society Groups in Nigeria (CCSG) who displayed placards and chanted solidarity songs, barricaded the gate of both political parties, insisting that since the north has completed 8years with the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari, it was only fair for power to shift to the south.

They insisted that zoning the presidency to the south was a means of fostering national stability and quelling unnecessary crises in the polity.

Some of the protesters were seen carrying placards with inscriptions like: ‘Please respect power rotation, power rotation is not negotiable, we support a united Nigeria, one nation great people, southern presidency now, southern presidency for national unity’.

President of CCSG, Bassey Etuk Williams who spoke on behalf of the coalition, maintained that the south cannot be taken for a ride in the current political dispensation, saying the call should be seen as sacrosanct.

According to Williams CSOs do not do not intend to undermine the right of political parties or party’s constitution by making the patriotic call.

His words: “We are convinced that power should naturally rotate between the North and Southern region of the country, we also believe that it is by avowed commitment to this arrangement that we can stop the current ethno-religious division being experienced in the country.

“Our visit today is to lend our voice in support of the call for power shift to the Southern part of Nigeria, we hereby urge the great men and women of the PDP and APC to heed to this patriotic call.

“By this patriotic call, we do not intend to undermine your right as a political party or your party’s constitution.

“We respect the wishes and aspiration of your party and the point in our political history, we deem it a worthy sacrifice and a patriotic love for tlhe country, if political parties can jettison all other interests and for the peace, unity and stability of our democracy.

“It is important so that we all desire a safe society, peaceful atmosphere and harmonious relationship for development and growth of the nation.

“This call becomes necessary and obligatory for us as a nation to move forward. It is also sacrosanct for fairness sake and for continuous unity of the country”.

The president noted that the coalition is apolitical as an organisation and its members spread across the length and breadth of the country, adding that the group has continued to work towards promoting interventions intended to uplıft and sustain democracy, good governance and national unity.

This he said, the coalition does through advocacy, sensitisation and lobbying.

A letter submitted to both parties which was made available to DAILY INDEPENDENT, “This letter is one of those efforts aimed at lobbying for a southern president in the forthcoming 2023 presidential clection.

“This, in our opinion will guarantee sustainable peace, national unity and strengthen our democracy.

“The Coalition in our last expanded executive meeting, considered the current political situation in the country and the need for the nation’s unity not to be threatened because of 2023 elections, hence our resolve to get involved and save the country from a possible instability and crises considering the issue of zoning or rotation of the office of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“We wish to appeal to the leadership of the PDP and the APC to consider and concede to the southern part of the country the right to produce the party’s presidential candidate for 2023 presidential election”. (Daily Independent)