*.APC Selling One Land To Two Buyers — Afenifere

*Olawepo-Hashim Warns Against Balkanisation Of Nigeria

Temidayo Akinsuyi, Lagos

The issue of who gets the presidency in 2023 is already causing tension between the South East and South West, Daily Independent has gathered.

Some Nigerians have also alleged that it may be a calculated attempt by the northern establishment and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to use the idea of the 2023 presidency to cause crisis in the South, especially between the South West and the South East.

While the nation is yet to hold the 2019 presidential election which is billed for next month, the South West and the South East are already locked in political battle as to which zone would produce the president in 2023.

Secretary to Government of the Federation (SFG), Boss Mustapha, had stirred the hornet’s nest when he promised that the ruling APC would ensure that the South East produces the president in 2023 should they support the second term aspiration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

However, Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Power, Works and Housing, at a town hall meeting later, urged the people of the South West to vote for President Buhari now so that the region could get the presidency in 2023.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo also corroborated Fashola’s claim when he said the success of President Buhari and the APC in the 2019 elections was the only way the South West could secure the presidency in 2023.

The issue is already causing a sharp division between the two regions as key leaders of the zones have traded words over whose zone would be the major beneficiary when the party zones it to the South.

Speaking with Daily Independent on Sunday, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South West, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Southern region should tread carefully on the issue as the Northern establishment was using the issue to cause confusion in the region.

He said: “I think the Southern region, especially our brothers in the East and West, should be careful with the way they are going about the 2023 presidency agitation.

“We should be careful so that it does not turn into another ethnic war between the Yorubas and Igbos.

“If you notice, the Northern establishments are just watching by the side without making any commentary on the issue yet the whole issue was started by a northerner, Boss Mustapha, who is also a chieftain of APC.”

In his remark, the presidential candidate of the People’s Trust, Gbenga Olawepo Hashim, expressed shock and dismay at the increasing ethnicisation of the February presidential race by high-ranking state officials.

Olawepo-Hashim warned that the trend was an unwitting attempt at Somalisation of Nigerian politics.

Speaking in Lagos while hosting a brainstorming session on finding national consensus over the state of the nation, Olawepo-Hashim slammed those in high offices who are dangling the 2023 presidential ticket as a political carrot, describing them as “agents of ethnic balkanisation and political retrogression”.

The presidential hopeful who alerted the nation to the emerging deterioration of standard and norms in high offices, said it was alarming that the vice president of the nation was allegedly leading the ethnicisation campaign.

He wondered why the high office of vice president should be dragged in the mud of tribal bigotry.

“That reprehensible statement promising 2023 presidency to the South West should never have emanated from the Office of the Vice-President.

“That office transcends tribal thinking. The presidency is and should be a rallying point for all Nigerians, irrespective of tribes or religion,” Olawepo-Hashim said.

He pointed out that tribal campaign hinged on 2023 as a promissory note confirmed the shallowness of political discourse as issue-based campaigns had been jettisoned by the two mainstream political parties.

“Nigerians have grown beyond this bigotry through inter-marriage, electoral endorsement, and business union.

“As early as First Republic, the Tiv people elected a Kanuri man as their representative to the northern House of Assembly.

“In 1993, the late Abiola beat Bashir Tofa in Kano. Today so disappointedly, some top leaders, instead of building on our achievements in the area of national unity, are busy pushing to split and reopen old animosity and rancour among our people,” he lamented.

Wondering why politics and campaign could not be about higher ideals of national unity and prosperity, the PT candidate affirmed that the presidency of Nigeria should be about merit, competence, and passion to deliver on good governance, not the drumming of ethnic card or the promotion of tribal advantage.

“The presidency must be about how further to unite the country, not how to divide it more. It must be about how to bring progress, not how to foster under-development. It is not about ethnicity or religion but on what you have to offer the people and the state,” he said.

Speaking on the issue, Yinka Odumakin, Afenifere’s National Publicity Secretary, said rather than blame the North over the crisis, the blame should go to the APC and some of its leaders such as Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Osinbajo, and Fashola.

He said: “I really don’t agree it is the northern establishment. It is people like Tinubu, Osinbajo, and Fashola and some Igbo politicians who are very strong on the position of 2023 presidency.

“It is an APC agenda. APC is behaving like Omo-Onile that is selling one land to two people, by telling one people the presidency belongs to them now while also telling another region it also belongs to them.

“It is an agenda to cause confusion which cannot work for us because restructuring Nigeria is more important than 2023. 2023 presidency cannot do anything for anybody under this structure.”

Also speaking, Monday Ubani, former Second Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), said while it could not be established that the Northern establishments were the ones behind the crisis, it was clear that southerners were the ones creating the confusion through their utterances.

https://www.independent.ng/2023-presidency-sets-south-east-against-south-west/

In Nikita's movie, When Alex seeks an advice from Amanda on how to defeats Percy.
Amanda replied: If you want to defeat Persy, then dont play at all cos you can never win him.

Same scenario is happening in Nigeria politics

Politics is a game of number and smartness. We already know those who are not ready to face the 2023 Southern presidential battle rather they preferred North to continue rulling.

there is only one winner...the north!!!

South East can contest under pdp and South West under apc

Like we cares

There is no tension anywhere.

South West uses Bank APC, while South East Banks with PDP. At the end of the day, everyone will withdraw from his / her account.

yemaldo:
South East can contest under pdp and South West under apc

naso.com .
But there are still many of us from the East that will vote for Sai Baba CONFIRM!
We know the many good projects he has been doing for us down there......amidst everything going.
Baba truly belong to everybody!

Modify:
Mynd:Kedu ihe mere?!
Noted o!

NIGERIA Ntooorrrrrrrrrr

This should not be hard at all.
Let one party bring his candidate from APC and another candidate from PDP.

It is the south Easterners that are saying that if a Yoruba man is coming out in any party, the other party should rather field a northerner because they believe the Northern candidate can defeat a Yoruba man while Easterner can not.

My questions are: Why giving up so early? why do Igbos prefer a northerner to their southern brothers?

Why do you love PDP so much and you want APC to hand over presidency to you??
Why is it hard to contest against a Yoruba man?

If PDP can not trust you guys enough with presidency, does it make sense for APC to trust you more than your darling PDP?

What exactly is your problem against the Yorubas when history shows that you guys are to blame for all your political miscalculations?

Well in my own view and with calculations on ground, I'm sure we will have another South South president in this country before any Igbo man.

The most important discussion at the moment should be how to send that fossil back to his cattle in Daura.

We need to get Nigeria working first so that we all stay healthy and alive to 2023. Thereafter, we can talk about who gets what.

For me, I care less whether the president comes from my region or the east in 2023. All I want is good governance such that I'm able to live a good life, put food on the table for my family and fulfill God's purpose on Earth.

After all, OBJ's presidency or Osinbajo's vice presidency only benefits their families and friends, some of whom are not even from our tribe. An Obasanjo would rather help a Kwakwanso and an Osinbajo would rather help an Ngige than me. So, why vote for someone based on ethno-religious reason when he doesn't even know that I exist?

So in this election, I vote for a presidential candidate on a popular party structure. One who has adequate mental capacity for governance, a nationalist, a man who's known to be successful in his own personal life.

My PVC is already atikulated!!!

We never even finish 2019 election and u guys did not let us rest with 2023 election noise up and down

APC selling one land to 2 parties means that they are Omonile party

Why do Yoruba people want presidency by all means when they have done their own 8 years?

South East have two options while we South West only got one option..


South East options are APGA and PDP

while South West Option is APC

so let the show begins


South East are very confused right now, they don't know what to do anymore..

BUHARIwilDIE019:
Why do Yoruba people want presidency by all means when they have done their own 8 years?

See them above me,one of the wailing pained ipob pig

Igbo don't have a place in national politics even though their present Governors are trying to restructure the political image


they believes hate speech, lies, propaganda and religion discrimination is a justification to practice true form of politics


having said that, once 2019 election is done and Buhari is reelected, watch them go back to Biafra or I die. at the end they loose because everyone will believe ipob mission are political if they don't boyscout the presidential election next month. after this FG won't take them serious if the election is not boyscout



Igbo are on the loose again. one can relate Igbo political confusion to a student in the exam hall reading the QST so many times but couldn't grab one point, failure stare and laugh at such person



there are many Yorubas supporting pdp but you won't see them carry it for head as Igbo carry it for head, it's called mind game(political pretence) which Igbo called backstabbing and betrayer


until Igbo learn how to apply pretence in politics, they will always be confuse and be a remnant of presidential election, that's useful every 4years

post=74522803:

naso.com .
But there are still many of us from the East that will vote for Sai Baba CONFIRM!

see this Aboki claiming easterner.

Hmm south west shouldn't be greedy and allow the south east to rule

Nawa ooo



I am a web designer and a developer. Check my signature if you need my service

frankmoney:
Hmm south west shouldn't be greedy and allow the south east to rule

Are you addressing SouthWest PDP or SouthWest APC or SouthWest People's Trust?

Both groups should pick a party and stick with it and the outcome.


I don't want to see any Igbo crying next month how Yoruba betrayed them again

StOla:


O

??

This is the main reason why Nigeria is still backward and unprogressive.
Instead of choosing the right people that should propel our nation to the right part, we are busy playing the ethnic and religious card. We choose ethnicity and religion over competency and merit. Even the educated ones that should have known better are also part of this act...

2023 is for South or else forget about NIGERIA.

I don't care who wins 2019.

I don't understand the politics of setting us southerners against ourselves...it's very bad.. always Yoruba vs Igbo, if these two can come together as one, I see rapid progress in the southern part of Nigeria

Nobody is setting each other against anything.
If only the two regions can stop worshiping their fulani masters.

yemaldo:
South East can contest under pdp and South West under apc

North will support the South westerner. Bad idea!

Is it that Afenifere has no better wisdom than to look for 'Northern establishment', in every national issue?