The former governor of Kano State, Senator Ibrahim Shekarau has said Nigeria’s next president should come from the southern part of the country, if the nation must attain political balance.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily yesterday, Shekarau noted that by 2023, President Muhammadu Buhari, who is from the northern part of the country, would have been in power for eight years.
According to him, “common sense tells one that we should look at the other side, to the Southern part of Nigeria.’’
On his position on the growing call for a South East presidency in 2023, Shekarau said: “I don’t call it zoning, I would rather call it some balancing. There has to be some sense of belonging. There is what I call the constitution of common sense.
“The Constitution of Nigeria or the constitution of any of the political parties didn’t say if I am from the North, my running mate must be from the South. It is not written but if today, I am a presidential candidate from Kano and I tell you my running mate is from Bauchi, you will say something is wrong with me.
“The Presidency has just been from the North for eight years. Common sense tells us that we should look at the other side, to the Southern part of Nigeria. We should recognise the North and the South, this is elementary geography and history.
“Perception is what you have to carry along. If you continue to dominate on one particular side, the perception from the other side is, ‘What about me?’”
The former minister of education also weighed in on the security situation across the country and argued that President Buhari was breaking the law by retaining the current service chiefs.
Following the massacre at Koshebe in Borno State, many Nigerians renewed calls for the sacking of the security chiefs, saying the present military leadership has failed to perform.
Shekarau, who represents Kano Central Senatorial District on the platform of All Progressives Congress, APC, said beyond the argument regarding performance, the military chiefs have overstayed their years of service and as such, the laws guiding the scheme of service were being flouted.
“The President is breaking the law, the law says if you are 60 you must go, it is automatic. If you are 35-years in service, you must go. In fact, they are not staff of Mr. President, they are the staff of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and there is a rule,” Shekarau said.
Shakerau said the question of the rule of law must be answered by the Presidency, with regards to retaining the service chiefs.
According to him, the military is governed by a scheme of service which includes when to leave automatically.
The former education minister said none of the service chiefs had less than 35-years of service under their belt, a requirement which, according to him, makes them eligible to have been retired.