Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, has said it is not a must that the 2023 presidency will be zoned to the Southern region of the country.
Although the governor reiterated his support for power shift to the southern region of the country, he cautioned his colleagues that politics is a game of numbers.
In an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, monitored by Newsmen, on Wednesday, Mr Zulum noted that the Southern governors were not wrong to call for a power shift to their region, saying it would promote unity.
According to reports, governors of the southern region had on Monday declared support for rotational presidency, saying the next president should come from the South.
The chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum and the Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, read the communiqué agreed to by member states.
“The forum reiterates its commitment to the politics of equity, fairness and unanimously agreed that the Presidency of Nigeria be rotated between southern and northern Nigeria and resolved that the next president of Nigeria should emerge from the south,” he had said.
Meanwhile, in the interview, Mr Zulum said, “I have said it times without number that I, Professor Babagana Zulum, I am of the view that the presidency should go to the south in the year 2023 because the unity of our country is very important.
“Secondly, inclusivity is very important. Thirdly, I am in the APC. Six or seven years ago, APC had zoned the presidency to northern Nigeria based on the agreement that in the year 2023, the presidency should go to the south.
“But again, this is politics. We are supposed to meet and discuss this issue among ourselves, among the political class.
“This statement that people are saying that the president must go to the south, I want them to remove the word must,” the governor added.
