2023: Jonathan, others destroyed presidential zoning arrangement - Arewa youths
- Arewa youths believe that the gentleman's agreement to rotate the presidency between the north and the south has been broken completely
- AYCF's national president, Shettima, said the blame for this should be placed on all of those that helped Jonathan become president in 2011
- Shettima believes that because of this and more, the north deserves to remain in power for longer than 2023 when President Buhari ends his term
The Arewa Youths Consultative Forum (AYCF) has accused a former president, Goodluck Jonathan and all those who helped him to get to power in 2011 of breaking the zonal arrangement for a rotational presidency.
The accusation was made by AYCF's national president, Yerima Shettima, when he visited Legit TV studios on Tuesday, December 10 in Lagos.
Speaking on Legit TV's live programme, Political Arena, Shettima argued that Jonathan was supposed to just finish Yar' Adua's term after the latter's death and move on, rather than choosing to stay on.
Source: UGC
Shettima noted that by staying on in power after using up Yar'Adua's two years, Jonathan took an additional 4 years away from the region. This incident, Shettima said, completely ended the gentleman's agreement between the north and the south on rotational leadership at the centre.
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"Jonathan had that remnant of two years from Yar’Adua’s regime and subsequently in 2011, ordinarily, in the spirit of a rotational presidency, or whatever-whatever, ordinarily in normal circumstances, one would have expected Jonathan to step aside and allow another northern person to come onboard.
"But Jonathan still went ahead (to contest for the presidency). And that was the moment when the issue of a rotational presidency was completely jettisoned. It is not even on record anymore. At that level, I believe strongly that the agreement had been broken."
Asked if he blamed Jonathan for the collapse of the zoning arrangement, Shettima replied, "I blame those who stood at that time to do what they did."
Legit.ng had reported way back in June that Shettima said the north should produce the next president when President Muhammadu Buhari leaves office in 2023.
Shettima said that the President Buhari-led administration has not favoured the north. He noted that the current government is purely a southwest government, an argument he still maintained in his latest interview with Legit TV.
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Group advocates for Arewa children’s rights - on Legit TV
Source: Legit.ng
