A northern group, Arewa Concerned Civil Society Organisations of Nigeria, has drummed support for Nigeria’s next president to come from the South in 2023.

The group’s spokesperson, Abdulsalam Kazeem, declared its intention at a press conference in Kaduna on Wednesday.

It said, “We converge here today at Arewa House to write another history of Nigeria where patriotic Northern youth are calling for a southern candidate.

“This is to sustain our political friendship with the people of Southern Nigeria.

“Equity and justice are the bane of development in any sane society. Since the First Republic, power has been rotated between the south and north.”

The group added, “Unfortunately, in 2007, when the power shifted to the north after two years, God took the life of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua of blessed memory.

“This has created a vacuum and resulted to so much agitations by northern stakeholders that the north must complete their eight-year term as President Obasanjo did.

“Since the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is supreme, and has a way of succession and emergence of leadership, Jonathan, as the vice president, was constitutionally sworn-in to be the president of Nigeria.

“In the heat towards the 2011 elections, many northern stakeholders agitated that power must return to the North.”

“But for national unity, and being Jonathan, a minority from oil-rich Niger-Delta region of Nigeria, that had never produced the president of the country, our stakeholders in the North advised to allow him to go for another four years term, which will have completed the joined ticket of him and late President Yar’Adua.

“In 2015, after realising President Jonathan isn’t ready to relinquish power, northerner stakeholders with the support of many progressive Southerners who believed in Unity and Fairness, Jonathan second bid was truncated, President Muhammadu Buhari elected and will complete his 8 years tenure by 2023.”

“There is a wise saying “What is good for the goose is good for the gander. I

“We the Arewa Concerned Civil Society Organizations of Nigeria in the spirit of building our desired nation and our continued existence as an entity, also not jettisoning the principles of power balance and fairness calls for the total support of the presidency to the southern part of the country.

Fashola denies eyeing presidency

“We have no other country than Nigeria, and we will not sit down and see our country disintegrate due to the selfish desires of some individuals that think the presidency is their birth right of a particular region.

Any northerner contesting the President will be regarded as an agent of disunity and enemy of the nation.”