2023: Northern group backs power shift to South, lists Tinubu, Amaechi among Buhari’s possible successor

A group in the Northern part of Nigeria, the Arewa Mandate Initiative (AMI) expressed its support for the return of power to the Southern part of the country in 2023.

In a statement issued by the duo of Muhammed Mubarak and Aminu Mohammed, its Coordinators in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Sokoto respectively, the group said its decision was in line with the gentleman agreement reached by leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at its formative stage in 2014.

The AMI listed the APC National Leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu; former Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma Egba; the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipriye Sylvia; Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amechi; and his Niger Delta Affairs counterpart, Godswill Akpabio, as few of the likely successor for President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.

The group also mentioned the Minister of Works, Raji Fashola; the Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi; and Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbeshola; and several others among those tipped to vie for the country’s highest political office in two years time.

AMI said its surveys among the APC supporters revealed that the majority of the members fully support the return of power to the South in 2023.

The group said: “Flowing from our engagements with various All Progressives Youths groups, across the North, the Arewa Mandate Initiative (AMI) wishes to announce that majority of the APC members support that the presidency should move to the South after President Muhammadu Buhari leaves in 2023.

“This consensus was reached after months of serious consultations with the youth groups and major stakeholders in the party spread across all the three geo-political zones of the North-West, North-Central, and the North-East.

“The Arewa Mandate Initiative, which has been spearheading the support for power shift to the South, had conducted three major rounds of surveys among the APC supporters on the 2023 presidential power shift and found that majority of the APC family fully support that power should move to the south in line with the gentleman agreement reached by the leaders of the party in 2015.

“In line with this popular demand, the AMI hereby wishes to urge those who might be nursing the presidential ambition from the North to shelf the idea in the interest of our party and national unity.

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“While the Arewa Mandate Initiative recognizes the right of all Nigerians to seek for any elective office of their choice as this is a constitutionally guaranteed rights, it would however urge northern politicians to let go of their presidential ambition as part of their own sacrifice for the unity and stability of Nigeria.

“The AMI, in furtherance of the search for a president from the South that could match the pedigree and patriotic credentials of President Muhammadu Buhari, has beamed its searchlights on some individuals that may be the choice acceptable across the board, for the North and South.

“Though certain individuals in the South have been identified as likely choices for the presidency, the Mandate group has decided to keep things under wraps for now to allow for wider consultations.

“As part of its assignments, the AMI has initiated talks/discussions with high ranking members of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), and the Middle Belt Forum, (MBF) with a view to having a consensus on a presidential material acceptable to the North as the general elections draw near.

“Among the names that the Arewa Mandate Initiative and the support groups are considering from the South-South include former Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma Egba (SAN), the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipriye Sylva, Minister of Transportation, Chief Rotimi Amechi, and the Minister of Niger Delta, Chief Godswill Akpabio, and from the South-West, include names like Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, Minister of works Raji Fashola, Governor of Ekiti, John Kayode Fayemi, and Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbeshola.

“Similarly, the AMI is also looking at names like the Minister of Science and Tech, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, former Governor of Abia, Dr.Orji Uzoh Kalu, Governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, and the former Senate President, Chief Ken Nnamani, from the South-East.”

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