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The South-South Elders Forum (SSEF) has warned that there will be chaos in the country if the North insists on retaining power in 2023 and urged the South West and South East zones to support its quest for the presidency.
National Coordinator of the forum, Chief Anabs Sara-Igbe, stated this during an interview with journalists in Abuja, saying the only honourable thing to do was for the North to allow power to return to the South.
He argued that this would peace, fairness, justice and stability of the country, as acting otherwise would be an invitation to chaos on completion of President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term in 2023.
His words: “What we need now in this country is peace. If the North holds unto power because they don’t want the East or the West, we are going to experience serious chaos to the extent that Nigeria will not remain the same again.
“So, if we can avoid it by sacrificing few years and we get peace and everything moves on, I think it is more important than we allow this country to disintegrate or boil from different angles on account of greed.”
He argued that there was an unconventional agreement that the presidency should go North and South, adding that presently, the presidency was in the North and that by the end of Buhari’s administration in 2023, the North should have completed its two terms, which implies that the presidency should return to the South.
He said the South has South West, South-South and South East, insisting that the South West completed its tenure through President Olusegun Obasanjo, the South- South had had one tenure through President Goodluck Jonathan, while the South East has not got power it in the new dispensation.
“And so obviously, it is right of the South-South to complete its two tenures and thereafter the South East will have it. But besides that, the South East today is insisting on Biafra Republic and not insisting on presidency.
“We in the South-South believe in restructuring of this country, but we are also interested in the presidency. So, we want to complete our second tenure.
“And considering our role in the economic development of Nigeria, the nation should be fair to us by allowing us to complete our second tenure. It is when we complete our second tenure that we will believe that Nigeria is with us,” he said.
He stated that the South-South was a stabilising force in Nigeria and appealed to other regions to support the region for presidency in 2023 to enable it complete its second term and then pave way for other regions, especially the South East.
Sara-Igbe stated that the South-South would not oppose the South East if they indicate interest in vying for presidency.
“But with the present condition of Nigeria, if we do not want the North to hold unto power, then the South East should forget their ambition because the North will not give power to the zone now due to the fear of Biafra and will not also give power to the South West, as they also have their fears,” he added.
