Barely a week after President Muhammadu Buhari’s closest ally and nephew, Malam Mamman Daura spoke against zoning of presidency ahead of the 2023 election, Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufa’i has said the next President should come from the South.
He also denied nursing any presidential ambition, saying he does not want to be President.
El-Rufa’i stated these in an interview with the Hausa service of the BBC monitored by our correspondent in Kaduna on Saturday.
The Governor noted though the arrangement to zone or rotate presidency among the various regions of Nigeria is unconstitutional, it is a gentleman political accord that must be respected by the two regions.
According to him: “The southern part of the country is supposed to produce the president come 2023.
“I don’t support a northerner to vie for the seat after President Muhammadu Buhari, based on Nigeria’s political arrangement.
“After President Muhammadu Buhari would have spent eight years by 2023, the right is that, no northerner should contest, the south two should have its shot for eight years.
“I am taking this position not because I agree that that is how leadership should be selected, but because that is how Nigeria politics is for now.
“I believe there is no developed country across the world that considers leadership based on where someone comes from.
“However, in Nigerian politics, there is an arrangement that we all believe on rotational leadership. We are aware of that, anyone who denies that is wrong,” he said.
Speaking on Kaduna, El-Rufa’i said while he is in support of zoning and rotational presidency, he is not in support of such arrangement in Kaduna.
According to him: “In Kaduna, I don’t work with people because they came from a particular zone. I instead work with you based on your capacity to deliver on the assigned task and your ability to keep public trust.”
On his rumoured presidential aspiration for the presidency, he said it has been there since the time he was the FCT Minister.
“It is a baseless speculation. I don’t want to be president; only God decides someone’s future whether you like it or not, I have never shown interest for the presidency,” El-Rufa’i said.
