▪︎Zoning
1. Every region where you have politicians must have good argument. The North Central has also made a simple argument that it has not produced a President or a Vice President through the democratic ballot since independence.
2. Where I stand is that the President Nigeria needs in 2023 is a President that will unite the country; that will bring peace and rapprochement; that will grow the economy so that every Nigerian can have a sense of security and prosperity. And it is this national consensus that I will be interested in promoting.
3. Every Nigerian can have a fair chance to become the President if you construct a national consensus around your programme
4. Democracy has worked without zoning; and can still work now
▪︎Equity and Justice
5. The best defence for equity and justice is still democracy. There are about 350 ethnic groups in Nigeria, and if you want to follow the zoning argument, each one of them would have to have a shot at the Presidency.
▪︎Federalism
6. What makes sense most is to look at what makes the Center too attractive and too domineering, and check it. That is what I call decentralisation, which means giving more powers to the sub-national components of the federation, and that is talking about the States and Local Government.
7. Decentralisation of Power will achieve more equity and justice than zoning. I have never seen zoning work in the whole world. The last country that tried zoning, Yugoslavia, is no more, and that was what led to the bloodshed in Rwanda.
▪︎Steam for 2023
8. There is a lot of consensus going on in the North Central and what I see is that we have always been part of efforts to build a national consensus and a united Nigeria. The whole Nigeria is my constituency, but we will address the issue properly when my party, the APC, comes out with its schedule of election
▪︎Unity and Heritage
9. Naturally I see myself as a unifying factor. Look at it: A half of my family members are Muslims, while a half are Christians; a half of my parentage are Hausa, while the other half are Yoruba. I have no choice but to unite everybody, that is what God made me to be. It is not my creation; it is what God did and I have to thank Him for that.
▪︎North Central Vs South East
10. I have always believed that the most competent person should be put forward at any time. Any zone can put up argument on why it should be its turn, but I am going to be persuaded by your building a consensus around your methods, tactics and programmes that will stabilize and unite the country. Even in 1999, when a lot of people thought that we should move the presidency to the South West, I was rooting for Abubakar Rimi from the North West and until we had a collective decision in our group to support Obasanjo, I stayed by our decision.
Video link
https://www.facebook.com/100050227010971/posts/385904906427073/
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