Temisan Olaifa
Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, has cautioned coalition leaders out to wrest power from President Bola Tinubu in 2027 to remain focused on their goal.
He warned that any attempt to exclude any region from participating in the contest to select a presidential candidate for the coalition would result in a stillbirth for the movement.
He also commended the leaders of the coalition for doing a great job so far and urged them not to be distracted by selfish agitation targeted at derailing their objective which is to galvanize opposition to win the 2027 presidential election.
Frank, in a statement in Abuja, said Nigerians need a competent and compassionate president who would help restore the waning glory of the country and not one elected based on ethnic sentiments.
“Nigeria needs a president for all Nigerians, not a president for northern or southern Nigeria.
“We need a president who will help tackle and solve the nation’s myriad challenges, both political, social, and economic, like insecurity, unemployment, poverty, deteriorating health and education systems, among others.
He said: “For 2027, the president can come from anywhere, whether north or south. Let the Nigerian electorate vote for their choice, whether from the north, south, east, or west.
“All I’m saying is that Nigerians need a better president, a people’s president that will be elected based on popular mandate.
“If a Southern or Northern candidate is popular enough for Nigerians to vote for him across the board, let him emerge as the president.
“Those saying that the South alone must produce presidential candidates for 2027 should perish the thought because their utterances are not only divisive but cast members of the coalition from the remaining five geopolitical zones as mere tools to attain the presidency.”
The Bayelsa-born political activist further declared that what should be of concern to the leaders of the coalition in the current dispensation
It should not be about region but capacity and general acceptability across the country.
“What Nigerians want is a candidate who is competent and suited for the job.
If you say you are popular enough, what are you afraid of? Go for primaries and let there be free and fair primaries.
“If a Northern candidate wins, fine and good. If a Southern candidate wins, fine and good. They should all support any candidate that emerges to win the presidential elections,” he said.
He noted that for those claiming that the South should be allowed to complete their remaining four-year term from 2027, “how does a Southern President or a Northern President even benefit the South or the North. People from the regions of all the successive presidents, either the South or the North, have always complained of neglect.
“ Southerners have complained against Jonathan and Obasanjo that they did not do anything. Now, we have a Southerner as president, and they are still complaining but continue to insist on another term. Ditto, Northerners have complained about Buhari for not doing anything for them.
He added: “I am opposed to the argument that a Northern aspirant should not contest. If it is a Northern aspirant that will give Nigerians the type of president we are looking for in Nigeria, let that aspirant run for the 2027 presidential election.
“If it is a Southern aspirant that will give Nigerians progressive governance, let that aspirant contest, emerge as a candidate, and win the presidential election. The South should be careful and urgently refrain from agitating for this so-called Southern presidency.”
Frank who is the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) Ambassador to East Africa and the Middle East, urged the coalition not to succumb to any ethnic blackmail masked by agitation for a Southern Presidency.
“Everybody in the coalition is equal and there must be equal opportunities for all. What is paramount is not the issue of North or South. It’s the issue of who will rescue Nigeria. Who will end insecurity? Who will end poverty? Who will end unemployment and human rights abuses, among others,” he said.
He declared that “What Nigerians need is leadership irrespective of religious affiliation or ethnic extraction.
“Since we attained democracy in Nigeria from 1999 till date, the South has benefited from the politics more than the North in terms of the number of years it has ruled the country from 1999 till date.
“Obasanjo had eight years, Yar’Adua had two years, Jonathan had six years, Buhari had eight years and Tinubu has had two years with two more years to go.
“Therefore, it is clear that by 2027, the South would have benefited for 18 years while the North only 10 years. So who has benefited more since 1999?
“As a southerner, I stand for the truth even though it may be bitter. Nigeria is one and what we need is leadership with experience.
“Democracy is all about contests, and there should be open and fair contests. I am calling on the new leadership of the ADC to ensure free, fair, and open primary elections to choose a presidential candidate for the coalition. There should be no zoning.”
He warned that the agitation for a Southern candidate by some members of the coalition could lead to a crisis that would further divide the country along regional lines.
“If we’re talking about a better Nigeria, what we should look for is a change that will benefit the people, and a president elected by the generality of Nigerians, not whether from South or North,” he said.
