Presidency 2023: Civil Society coalition demands zoning to South  

A Coalition of Civil Society Groups in Abuja demanded the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to zone their 2023 presidential tickets to South Nigeria.

President of the Coalition, Bassey Etuk Williams, at a media briefing in Abuja expressed the need to zone the president to the South in 2023 in the national interest for the unity of Nigeria.

The Coalition enjoined the APC and PDP to be guided by the “unwritten convention of power rotation between the North and South since 1999 in their nomination of the 2023 presidential candidates towards ensuring fairness in the country. The Coalition insisted that national interest must be placed above other interests.

Bassey Etuk Williams stated: “Let it be known that there won’t be either APC or PDP if there is no country called Nigeria.

“National interest must override personal interests in the nomination of presidential candidates in 2023. Both parties must and should follow what will retain the unity of the country and zone presidency to the South come 2023”.

The Coalition noted that while the members are aware that power is not just given; assured that they will deploy their wide network of structures with APC, PDP and other political parties to ensure that the presidency shifts to the South in 2023 and Nigeria’s unity is not in any way fragmented.

According to the coalition, “Northern region has been in power since 2015 and after completing the constitutional eight years by 2023, it is expected that power will rotate to the South. This is lawful and can guarantee peace and unity of the country.”

Several stakeholders have been involved in the agitation for power shift to the south in 2023.