The North will not cede the position of the president through intimidation, blackmail and coercion come 2023, a former aide to President Muhammadu Buhari, Suleiman Abdulrahman Kawu Sumaila has said.
Kawu was reacting to an interview granted to one of the national dailies by the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige, who said any political party that fields a Northern candidate in the 2023 presidential election would lose.
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But Kawu Sumaila, a former third-term member of the House of Representatives, said the likes of Ngige should bury their heads in shame for trying to intimidate and blackmail the North on the issue of 2023 presidency.
He said the North would only cede power to the Southern part of the country through negotiations, dialogue, consensus and understanding and not ranting in the media.
The former two-term Deputy Minority Leader of the House of Representatives said politics anywhere in the world is a game of numbers, as such, either the North or South could use its numbers to decide who the next president would be.
Kawu recalled that during the 2015 and 2019 presidential election, Ngige and his geopolitical zone did not contribute anything to the victory of the APC.
“I think the likes of Ngige should be placed where they belong. You cannot come and try to intimidate the North in the media. Politics everywhere in the world is a game of numbers, and those that have the numbers can decide who leads them.
“I want to say without fear of contradiction that the North will no succumb to intimidation or blackmail of the likes of Ngige. The North can only cede power through peaceful negotiations and dialogue. Open confrontation will not give the South presidency.
“Maybe one should refresh Ngige’s memory. We were all in this country when Goodluck Jonathan contested and won presidential election in 2011 even when it was the turn of the North to complete the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s tenure. Did the world come to an end then? Certainly no.
“So, nobody should try to bamboozle us today just because of 2023 presidency. If the North wants to contest, I don’t think anybody can stop it through intimidation. Let this sink in the minds of Ngige and his co-travelers.
“I also want to make it clear that I have a lot of respect for Ngige. I worked closely with him during the formation of APC. But I felt it was important to make things clear on the issue of 2023 presidency,” Kawu said.
