EDWIN KIAGBODO CLARK, LEGEND AND MOBILE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OUR TIME AND OF ALL TIMES!
2023: ATIKU, SARAKI, TAMBUWAL, OTHER PRESIDENTIAL ASPIRANTS FROM NORTH MUST JETTISON IDEA OF CONTESTING — Clark.
February 1, 2022,
* NASS spends N1bn yearly on ‘futile constitution review’, says Clark
* Says it’s the flip of the South to supply Buhari’ Successor.
* Warns that Zoning between the North and the South is the most effective antidote to the break up of Nigeria.
* Says it’s the panacea for Peace and Unity in Nigeria.
* Says Zoning has been practiced within the nation’s coverage even earlier than Independence
FORMER Federal Commissioner for Information and South-South chief, Chief Edwin Clark has requested former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki, Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State and different northerners who’ve Presidential ambition forward of 2023 ought to within the curiosity of justice, jettison such an thought.
In an announcement yesterday in Abuja, Clark who warned that Zoning the Presidency between the North and the South is the most effective antidote to the break up of Nigeria and the Requisite for Peace and Unity within the nation, nonetheless stated that it’s the flip of the South to supply the following President in 2023 and never the north.
According to the Elderstatesman, zoning has been practiced within the nation’s coverage even earlier than Independence, when Tafawa Balewa, in 1954, was the Prime Minister, Nnamdi Azikiwe was the Governor-General.
Clark stated, “Firstly, I want to use this medium to advise my most revered Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chieftains within the individuals of former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, former President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, Governor of Sokoto State, and different PDP aspirants from the north, that within the curiosity of sustaining the unity of this nation to which they’ve contributed a lot, to re-consider their need of desirous to contest for the Presidential election in 2023, as a result of each by the PDP Constitution and by conference, it’s now the flip of Southern Nigeria to supply the President of Nigeria, in 2023, after President Muhammadu Buhari’s 8 years. To do in any other case is to ask chaos, which is able to result in the disintegration of our expensive nation.
“Zoning has been practised within the nation’s coverage even earlier than Independence, when Tafawa Balewa, in 1954, was the Prime Minister, Nnamdi Azikiwe was the Governor-General. Zoning of political workplaces, notably the Presidency of the nation, is the most effective antidote to the breakup of Nigeria, and the panacea for peace and unity of the nation.
One of the explanation why the north opposed Chief Anthony Enahoro’s movement for independence in1953, was that they felt they weren’t equal to the South in training; that they weren’t ready to supply proportional candidates who will run an impartial authorities with the south as a result of, at the moment, that they had solely about 4 graduates.
“They subsequently walked out of the Parliament, went again to the north, and swore by no means to return to Lagos once more. That was what led to the Constitutional Conferences held each on the Lancaster House in London and at Ibadan, Nigeria, purposely to maintain Nigeria one. The impression was that nobody group or part of the nation ought to dominate the federal government of Nigeria on the expense of different elements of the nation.
“When Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, who was Deputy Premier to Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the Premier of Western Nigeria, was to journey to the north to foyer northern political leaders like Mallam Aminu Kano and others to help the Action Group. Some northern radicals in Kano bought wind of it and have been able to assault Chief Akintola on the Railway Station in Kano. But the Colonial Government in Lagos bought to know concerning the plan and stopped Chief Akintola at Zaria whereas on his technique to Kano, and requested him to return to Ibadan. But as a result of the northerners weren’t conscious, they nonetheless went to the Rail Station to trigger the disaster. With the frustration, they went into city and unleashed mayhem in kano, burning homes and outlets of Igbos, as if Chief Akintola was an Igbo man. My good good friend, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, who was a Reporter of Comet Newspaper in 1954, was current on the Railway Station when the incident occurred.
“When Nigeria bought Independence in 1960, the important thing positions within the Federal Government have been distributed (shared) between the areas that shaped the Protectorate of Northern and Southern Nigeria. The North took the workplace of the Prime Minister, and the south took the workplace of Governor-General and the President of the Senate. The Eastern Region had the Governor-General and the western area had the President of the Senate.
“Another instance of zoning was within the Armed Forces, the Nigerian Army was managed by British Officers, and the General Officer Commanding the Army was a Briton. But after Independence, and when Nigeria was to take over in 1965, probably the most certified Officer on the time, who went to Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, United Kingdom, was a northerner, Zakariya Maimalari.
“The then Minister of Defence, Alhaji Muhammadu Ribadu, intervened that he was already the Minister of Defence, so it will not be correct to nominate one other northerner to be the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Nigerian Army. That was why General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, from Eastern Nigeria, was appointed, and he grew to become the primary indigenous GOC of the Nigerian Army.
“Even within the Legislative Houses, zoning has been the sample adopted to maintain Nigeria collectively. I keep in mind, when Alhaji Shehu Shagari, from Sokoto within the North, was the President of the nation, Senator Joseph Wayas from Obudu in Cross River State, south-south Nigeria, was President of the Senate, whereas Rt. Hon. Edwin Ume-Ezeoke from Anambra State, south-eastern Nigeria, was the Speaker of the House of Representatives, for a similar causes given above.
“In 1999, the zoning sample was additionally noticed, extra so, the nation needed to compensate the Yorubas due to the June 12 incident. That was how Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, from the south, contested the elections with Alhaji Atiku Abubakar from the north as his Running mate underneath the PDP. Chief Olu Falae, additionally from southern Nigeria, additionally contested with Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi from the north, as his Running mate underneath the Alliance for Democracy (AD) political occasion. Zoning was sustained on the finish of Chief Obasanjo’s tenure of eight years, giving the Presidency to the North in 2007, whereby Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Governor of Katsina State, northern Nigeria, grew to become the Presidential candidate of the PDP and Dr. Goodluck Jonathan from Bayelsa State, southern Nigeria, grew to become his working mate.
“Because of this zoning consideration, northerners didn’t need him to proceed and contest the election in 2011. They objected to his appointment as Acting President of the nation. I keep in mind, Sheikh Abubakar Gumi, the daddy of Dr. (Sheikh) Ahmad Abubakar Gumi, got here to my home and pleaded with me to ask Dr. Jonathan to step down for a northerner as a result of it was the flip of the north. That Dr. Jonathan ought to, actually, be a Vice President to a different northerner who ought to take the place of Dr. Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, and that when the north had completed, then Dr. Jonathan might come again and turn into the President of the nation. My response to him was that that will probably be towards the Constitution of Nigeria, which offers that when the Office of the President turns into vacant both by loss of life, or by sickness, or some other incidence, the Vice President shall take over, underneath Section 15 of the Nigerian Constitution.
“The opposition towards Dr. Jonathan was from numerous quarters; Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Dr. Bukola Saraki have been main elements of that opposition, which was carried via the 2015 Presidential elections. Though it was his constitutional proper to re-contest in 2015, to finish the 8 years, as supplied by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Dr. Jonathan’s succeeding late Dr. Yar’Adua, didn’t obliterate his proper to hunt a second time period.
If we copy the American system of presidency, then we should always have realised that the Vice President will solely be disqualified to contest if the time the President who died, or vacated workplace, was lower than two years into the administration. Dr. Jonathan had not executed half the interval of the primary time period of Dr. Yar’Adua and, due to this fact, was certified to contest if we’re adopting the American system.
“Again, Section 137 (1b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), provides that a person shall not be qualified for election to the Office of President if he has been ELECTED TO SUCH OFFICE AT ANY TWO PREVIOUS ELECTIONS”, it didn’t say if the individual has been sworn in twice as was claimed by Barr. Yadudu of Kano State, who posited that the time that Jonathan was first sworn in, when he took workplace with Dr. Yar’adua as Vice President, and was sworn in once more when he assumed workplace as President on sixth May, 2010, following the unhappy demise of Dr. Umaru Yar’Adua. This place is totally incorrect and inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution of the nation.
“Nevertheless, the northerners still felt Dr. Jonathan should not contest the 2015 election because it was their turn. Hence most of the northerner leaders, including Governors and politicians from the PDP decided to support Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, rtd, and even contributed funds to his campaign, including the former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Dr. Bukola Saraki. Most PDP leaders, from the north, who collected campaign money from the party did not use the money for the purpose. There were only a few exceptions among the northern leaders of the PDP. That was why I said that it was “PDP that defeated PDP in the 2015 Presidential election.”
“The argument that Dr. Yar’Adua’s Presidency lasted for less than about 2 and half years, and, due to this fact, that the north must be allowed to supply one other candidate to finish the north’s statutory eight years, was complied with in 2019, when solely northern candidates contested the Primaries of the PDP in Port Harcourt, the place Alhaji Atiku Abubakar gained with resounding victory. Similarly, the Presidential Primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2014, was majorly contested by northerners, with exception of Owelle Rochas Okorocha, a southerner, additionally contesting.
At the tip, Muhammadu Buhari gained, whereas Alhaji Atiku Abubakar got here second.
“It is instructive that the nation’s two important events, the APC and the PDP, have been religiously, following the zoning and rotation system between the north and the south. By 2023, the north would have dominated for one more 8 years. It is, due to this fact, rational and proper, to insist that the Presidency ought to rotate to the south. It doesn’t matter whether or not the presidency has been produced from the APC or the PDP since 2015.
“To which sub-region the presidency must be additional zoned to within the south, is a special matter completely. At the suitable time, we’ll resolve as to which space, part or area of the three areas of South-East, South-South and South-West, ought to have it.
“It have to be understood that the north has had the Presidency for about 45 years of our nation’s historical past as an impartial nation, together with each civilian and navy regimes as follows:
5 years and three months of Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
9 years of Gen. Yakubu Gowon
6 months of Gen. Murtala Mohammed
1 yr and eight months as Military Head of State of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari
4 years and three months of Alhaji Shehu Shagari
8 years of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida
4 and half years of Gen. Sanni Abacha
1 yr of Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar
8 years of President Muhammadu Buhari that can finish in May, 2023.
“South-West had Chief Ernest Shonekan for a brief interval of three months as Interim President, and Chief Olusegun Obasanjo for 8 years. If the three and half years of his (Chief Obasanjo’s) Military Head of State are added, then the South-West have held the nation’s primary workplace for about 12 years.
“South-South had Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan as President for 5 years (May 2010 to May 2015).South-East had Gen. Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi for six months in a navy regime (January 1966-July 1966).
“The 17 Governors of southern Nigeria each of the APC and the PDP, underneath the management of Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, Governor of Ondo State, resolved at a gathering in Asaba, Delta State, that the Presidency ought to rotate to the South in 2023, in line with the custom of zoning.
The South and Middle Belt Leaders Forum, underneath my management, has held two vital conferences to help the decision of the 17 Governors of the southern Nigeria, that presidency of the nation, ought to rotate to the south. One of the conferences was held on the Sheraton Hotel, Abuja, on thirtieth May, 2021, which was attended by over 500 members of the Forum from the 4 areas of the Middle Belt, South-East, South-South and South-West. The second assembly was held additionally in Abuja on thirteenth January, 2022, and had in attendance, outstanding members from the areas.
“As I’ve stated earlier, I’ve noticed with dismay, that a few of my revered mates, particularly, the previous Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and the distinguished former President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, who opposed former President Goodluck Jonathan for contesting the Presidential elections as a result of they felt it was the flip of the North, at the moment are desirous to contest for the presidency underneath the PDP in 2023.
“They are already campaigning via the size and breadth of the nation, even after a northerner will probably be having a straight 8 years, come May, 2023. Is it now not not a negation of the ‘zoning agreement,’ for which former President Goodluck Jonathan was castigated? Is it now not threatening the unity and survival of the nation? As the intention of those and others who could comply with, will probably be going towards the zoning system of the PDP. It could even be the deciding issue for the PDP, whether or not to be or to not be.
“The current decision by the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum that the presidency must be zoned to the south and that those that refuse to heed to our plea/determination, shouldn’t depend on our help, is wholly supported by me, because the chief.
“I’d have died about three months in the past. I used to be admitted into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a hospital for 23 days, out of which I used to be unconscious for about two days, earlier than I used to be restored. I consider the Almighty God nonetheless desires me to remain alive to play main roles within the efforts to make Nigeria a greater nation for all of us, Nigerians.
“The former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, underneath the zoning association, contested the PDP Presidential Primaries in 2019, with different northern presidential aspirants, like the previous Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, the Governor of Sokoto State, former Senate President David Mark, former Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, former Governor of Plateau State, Jonah Jang, former Governor of Kaduna State, Ahmed Makafi, former Governor of Gombe State, Ibrahim Dankwambo, former Governor of Sokoto State, Attahiru Bafarawa, former Minister of Special Duties, Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, SAN and Sen. Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed. There was no single southern candidate that contested with them. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar gained overwhelmingly with about 3000 votes. We all supported him. Unfortunately, he misplaced within the common election. All that’s now historical past.
“The problem of 2nd time period for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar doesn’t come up, as a result of he didn’t win the presidential election in 2019. He is, due to this fact, not entitled for a second time period, which is just meant for a sitting president serving first tenure. As a consequence, energy has to return to the south. Same additionally applies to my revered former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki.
“However, I’m very completely satisfied to notice that there are nonetheless some patriotic Nigerians from the North, who consider within the unity of Nigeria and are advocating for the return of energy to the South in 2023. Among these patriotic Nigerians from the north are Governors Babagana Zulum of Borno State, Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State, Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba State, Babangida Aliyu, former Governor of Niger State, and my life lengthy good friend, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, who’s now 96 years previous, whereas I’m 94 years previous.
“We each have seen all of it in Nigerian politics.
At this juncture, could I reproduce the Press Statement of my good good friend, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, as printed within the Daily Trust Newspaper of Monday, January 24, 2022 “2023: It’s unjust for North to retain energy. How can or not it’s that it’s at all times we the Northerners that can rule? There isn’t any justice on this matter, we rule, they (south) rule, that’s justice. Even although we didn’t do a lot in all of the years that the Northerners dominated. What will we are saying to the folks? What will we present to the residents of Nigeria that they benefited or will profit to ensure that them to present us their votes? In these six to seven years, what have we executed?
“I’ve noticed with satisfaction that each the PDP and the APC, have zoned the place of their National Chairman to the North. PDP chosen Sen. Iyorchia Ayu, former Senate President, from Benue State, North-Central as its National Chairman. While about eight to 12 APC Party chieftains, all from the North, are contesting for the place of National Chairmanship of the occasion in its subsequent Convention billed to happen on twenty sixth February 2022. This positively provides one the impression that each the APC and the PDP have determined to zone their presidential tickets to the south. It is, due to this fact, my passionate attraction to my northern compatriots, for the unity and survival of our nice nation, to do the needful by permitting the south to supply the following President, after President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure. It will probably be disastrous for anybody to aim to make use of the power of energy, inhabitants, faith and ethnicity, to suppress the rights of different Nigerians with out regard for Justice, Equity and Fair play.
