Ohanaeze Igbo Women Organisation Worldwide, however, said the failure of the North to agree to the rotation of presidency connotes Nigeria will break.
The women wing of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo has thrown its weight behind the Southern governors that it is their turn to produce the next President of Nigeria.
According to the statement by Ohanaeze Igbo Women Organisation Worldwide dated July 7, 2021, and signed by its President-General, Chief (Mrs) Calista Nkiru Adimachukwu, Northern Nigeria will have no choice but to support the South to produce the next occupant of the Aso Presidential Villa in 2023.
In the statement made available to SaharaReporters on Wednesday, the Igbo Women stated that the, “era of arrogant disposition on Nigerian political affairs by the self-acclaimed Northern Nigerian political gladiators is now over.”
The group made the statement in reaction to the rejection by the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) of the position of the Southern Governors that the next president will come from the South.
“We are running a democratic government and decisions over where the next president comes from will be made by voters exercising their rights to choose which candidate best serves their interest,” NEF had said.
Ohanaeze Igbo Women Organisation Worldwide, however, said the failure of the North to agree to the rotation of presidency connotes Nigeria will break to afford the North have its own President.
The statement reads: “The communique issued at the meeting of the governors of Southern Nigeria on the 5th of July, 2021 regarding the rotation of the presidency of Nigeria to the South in 2023 is a wonderful development regardless of the statement by Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed that the Southern governors' forum cannot force the North to concede the 2023 presidency to the south.
“For the past few years, I have made a case for a southern president of south-east extraction in 2023 and the restructuring of the Nigerian federation for an equitable Nigeria. Nigeria has different ethnic nationalities with diverse cultures and traditions, and it is impractical for one section of the country to dream of asserting dominance or become Lord over the other sections. Democracy demands equity and fair play.
“Therefore I want to state categorically clear that the era of arrogant disposition on Nigerian political affairs by the self-acclaimed Northern Nigerian political gladiators is now over. The southern Nigerian governors' forum's decision on the Nigerian presidency in 2023 is a settled matter.
“The current President, Muhammadu Buhari got the support of the south to become the president of Nigeria for his two terms in office. The North cannot produce a Nigerian president without the support of the south based on the Nigerian constitution.
“But if the North finds the decision of the Southern governors not acceptable, they can go ahead and produce the president of Northern Nigeria. The era of arrogant disposition by the Northern political class is now a defunct story.
“On behalf of the Ohanaeze Igbo Women Organization Worldwide, I commend the southern governors for their bold step and their stance. Their recent decision would be remembered in history as act of patriotism towards the sustainability of democracy in Nigeria.”