More reliefs appear to become the way of the southern part of the country on their demand to produce the next president of the country, as some northern powers are currently considering accepting the request.
FirstNews gathered from a liable source that some northern stakeholders have been talking to one another on the need to allow power to swing to the South.
The source also revealed that the northerners were angered by the pronouncement of the Southern Governors Forum, where they threatened the northern on the issue.
“If we are to look at it, the North deserves four more years and this has made our people and our leaders be demanding vehemently that power remains in the North come 2023. And at the same time, what fueled the matter was the pronouncement of the southern governors compelling the North. You cannot compel anyone on this matter but instead, we should go to the negotiation table. And whoever is able to win via lobbying, then fine.
“But I can tell you that our people are ready to allow the power to swing to the South under a good negotiation provided the North is not compelled,” the source said.
This is even as Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has confirmed that northern governors are not opposed to power shift to the South.
El-Rufai said some of the northern governors have publicly supported a power shift to the South in 2023, but were not comfortable with the approach of their southern colleagues.
“Some of us have been very public about our support for power shift. I first made my views clear on this matter late in 2019. We did that because we believe that it will help advance and promote national unity. What is not proper is for our colleagues – Governors – in the South to be couching their demands with words like a must in a process that requires discussions, negotiations, and consensus-building.
“What the northern governors did was to condemn that statement, saying there must be a power shift. We did not condemn or oppose power shift,” the Kaduna State governor said in a recent interview.
Also, former Governor of Kano State and a serving senator, Ibrahim Shekarau, said he is for a power shift in 2023. He, however, cautioned the proponents of power shift to adopt negotiation and stop issuing threats.
“As far as the party I belong is concerned, the APC, my proposal is that now that President Buhari is from the northern part of the country, let beam the searchlight to the southern part of Nigeria. This is not because we don’t have competent people in the North…but we must also be mindful of the sense of belonging,” Shekarau had said.