Power must return to South, Akeredolu insists

In order to maintain the nation’s system of power rotation, Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu has emphasized that the Presidency must move back to the South in 2023.
At the University of Ibadan’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine’s first anniversary of the passing of late Prof. Bankole Oke, Akeredolu made this statement on Wednesday during a lecture titled, “Nigeria: The politics of religion in a transitional society.”
Under what he called the cover of a party choosing a southerner as its vice presidential candidate, he asked Nigerians to take precautions to ensure that power does not remain in the North.
He stated: “A party that picked somebody from the North as its presidential candidate is not doing so in the interest of the country. Peter Obi has the right to contest because he is from the South.
“We are ready to give it whatever it takes to make sure power returns to the South in 2023.
“There appears to be an understanding that power must rotate between the North and the South. This understanding witnessed the contest of two candidates from the South-West for the Presidency. It was part of the unwritten agreement that the power equation must be balanced to allay the fear of domination harboured by the people of the South.
“There is a conscious attempt not to disrupt the extant agreement. There has been a seamless transition from one civilian regime to another since 1999, the longest in the political history of the country.
“The current political permutations raise strong suspicions of an undeclared motive to thwart the arrangement that has been working for the country. The rotation of the office of the President is between the North and the South since the inception of the Fourth Republic.”
The governor issued a warning to Nigerians, cautioning them to watch out for political ploys that use religion to polarize the populace.
According to Akeredolu, it was their enormous capacity that allowed politicians in the First Republic to accomplish so much, and it was this capacity that determined who would be elected and appointed to positions of authority rather than their religious beliefs.

GOGAN Media.