… says governor was in school when North, South agreed on rotation’
Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization and one of the regional groups championing the return of power to the South, on Monday lampooned Yahaya Bello, the of Kogi State over his recent criticism of the rotational presidency.
Bello, who is gunning to fly the flag of the ruling All Progressives Congress flag at the 2023 presidential elecctions, last week described rotational presidency as “unconstitutional”. He argued that “Nigerians should be allowed to make their choices for the best candidate to emerge for the top post”.
He spoke at a media event dubbed ‘Governor Yahaya Bello seminar for political and crime correspondents’ in the capital city, where his presidential campaign posters had once flooded.
In a statement on Monday signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Alex Ogbonnia, Ohanaeze, however, slammed Bello, pointing out that the governor had demonstrated a remarkable obsession with ambition shortly after providence paved the way for him to be sworn in as a governor in 2015 at the young age of 40.
Ohanaeze noted that “there is no doubt that Bello has a date with destiny going by a smooth political ascendancy that life has presented to him.”
According to the organization, the young governor “is embarking on a political adventure that lacks both conscience and principle.”
Ohanaeze noted that all the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the inner still voice or conscience.
Zising up Bello, Ohanaeze noted that “Governor Bello was still a student, studying accountancy at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria when an agreement was reached between the North and the South with respect to Rotational Presidency.
“The meeting was held at the National University Commission Conference Centre, Abuja in 1998. Dr.Chuba Okadigbo spoke on behalf of the South while Alh. Abubakar Rimi spoke for the North. The likes of Dr. Alex Ekwueme, Chief Solomon Lar, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, etc were at the meeting,” the organization.
“The Nigerian statesmen examined the merits and demerits of zoning and rotation of power between the composite zones in Nigeria. In the end, it was resolved that the presidency be conceded to the South and that it would rotate between the South and the North in the interest of equity, unity and corporate existence of Nigeria.”
Continuing, “the foregoing was the basis for the emergence of presidential candidates of the mainstream political parties from the South West in1999. Since then, the patriotic and peace-loving Nigerians have adhered to the rotation principle such that at the end of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s second tenure, President Musa Yar’Adua was elected; Goodluck Jonathan and then President Muhammadu Buhari,” the group said.
According to Ohanaeze, it was on that basis that the Southern Governors resolved in the Lagos meeting that the South should produce the next President of Nigeria after President Muhammadu Buhari.
Ohanaeze advised Bello that it would serve his interest better if he supported the resolution by his southern colleagues; more so as “he is still young”.
It further asked Bello to embrace the ethical functional relationship between the morality of an agreement and the legality of the constitution.
It contended that for clarity’s sake, that “morality is the universal foundation of Laws. On the other hand, the law should be seen to stand in defence of morality.”