Fayose insists on a Southern president in 2023, unlikely to support Atiku

In an indication that he might not support Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in his presidential bid, a former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has insisted that the next president of Nigeria must come from the Southern part of the country.

The remark from Fayose who reportedly supported the presidential aspiration of Governor Wike is coming a few days after meeting the Rivers State governor in Port Harcourt.

This is disclosure is contained in a series of tweet posts by Fayose on his official Twitter account on Wednesday, where he acknowledged that the constitution of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) provides for a rotational presidency.

What Ayo Fayose is saying

The tweet post from Fayose reads, “The PDP Constitution provides for a rotational Presidency. Section 3(c) provides that the Party shall pursue its aims & objectives by “adhering to the policy of the rotation & zoning of Party & Public elective offices in pursuance of the principle of equity, justice, and fairness’,” Fayose maintained.

“The current President of Nigeria is a 2-term Northern Presidency, thus implying that it MUST be a Southern Presidency in 2023 or NOTHING. Awa ‘South’ lo kan’. Nigerians should await details soon.”

What you should know

• Fayose, who was a former 2-term governor of Ekiti state, contested the PDP presidential primary which was held several weeks ago and lost out to former Vice President Atiku Abukar.
• He has been very critical of another Northern president after having 2 terms of President Muhammadu Buhari and has been one of the strong advocates for a power shift to southern Nigeria despite the party Atiku from the northern region, as the party’s flagbearer.
• Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, who also lost in the exercise, had campaigned, among others, based on a power shift to the south.
• The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), however, is fielding a southerner – Bola Tinubu – as its presidential candidate to honour the power-sharing deal called zoning between the north and south.
• The crisis in the main opposition PDP appears to have deepened after the presidential primaries with many party leaders and members dissatisfied with the outcome and the choice of the running mate to Atiku Abubakar