The presidential ambition of the Labour Party (LP) flagbearer, Peter Obi, has suffered a setback following the kick-off of mobilization for the standard bearer of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, by supporters of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Recall that Jonathan met with the former Governor of Anambra State and members of his Presidential Campaign Council in Otuoke, Bayelsa State last week.
This comes weeks after Jonathan’s supporters under the aegis of the Citizens Network for Peace and Development in Nigeria (CNPDN) endorsed Tinubu in November.
But the meeting between Jonathan and Obi has not stopped the group to begin mobilization at the grassroots for Tinubu in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
In a statement on Monday, the National Secretary of the group, Francis Wainwei, said they have begun mobilization for Tinubu to make the Southern Presidency a reality and had insisted that the South must produce the next president of the country in 2023.
The group said the primary reason for supporting a Southern president is to promote national unity, equity, fairness, and justice, adding that they were against the idea of having another northerner replace President Muhammadun Buhari after eight years in office.
It stated that the group had unanimously resolved to support and vote for Tinubu in the forthcoming presidential election in 2023 because he is the easiest means to elect a President from southern extraction.
The group added that Tinubu has nationwide acceptance and has the requisite political experience to navigate Nigeria to greatness as president of Nigeria.
The statement read, “Our position that the next president of this country should come from the South is driven by the same vision and principles. We believe strongly that such will strengthen the unity and peace of the nation. It will give a better sense of belonging to the people of southern Nigeria and foster a more viable peaceful co-existence among Nigerians.
“In order to ensure that a Southern President is elected in 2023, we hereby call on all our members and people of the South East and the South-South zones to massively vote for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for President in 2023.
“Tinubu is the easiest means to elect a president from Southern extraction in 2023. He has nationwide acceptance and has the requisite political experience to navigate Nigeria to greatness as President of Nigeria.”
The group also called on some South-South governors to immediately resign for betraying their people by supporting another Northern candidate to emerge as President in 2023.
It noted that the call became necessary, as the people of the South-South zone can no longer trust the governors with their common heritage since they have placed their personal interests above the collective interest of their people.
The statement added: “We were surprised by the betrayal of the same cause by some of the southern governors, especially the South-South governors, except Nyesom Wike, who had earlier declared for a southern President, to abandon same and started pursuing their personal interests instead of the collective interest of the region.
“We, therefore, call on the South-South governors who have betrayed their people by supporting another northern candidate to take over from Buhari after eight years of a president from the North, to resign immediately.
“This is because the people of the South-South zone can no longer trust them with their common heritage as they have placed their personal interests above the collective interest of their people.
“Our call on them to resign is also premised on the fact that they recently received huge sums of money via the 13 per cent derivation fund and squandered the same in pursuit of their personal interests at the expense of their people.
“We are also calling on the South-South states’ Houses of Assembly to impeach the said governors if they fail to resign as requested. We shall mobilise our members across the South-South States to force the said governors to resign or get impeached.
“We can’t allow such selfish governors to continue to govern us anymore. We must all place the collective interest of our people above our personal interests for our region to experience holistic and accelerated development.”
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