The Northern Elders Forum, or NEF, has announced that it would back a candidate from any region for the 2023 presidential election.
NEF Director of Publicity and Advocacy, Dr Hakeem Baba Ahmed, said this at the fourth Malam Maitama Sule Leadership Lecture at the University of Maiduguri, Borno State.
“We don’t want the president to emerge as a product of ethnic or religious pushes. We don’t want a president that will be answerable to a portion of Nigeria. We won’t accept it,” Dr. Ahmed told the Daily Sun.
“The next president should emerge from a credible election from any part of the country but he or she must be first and foremost a Nigerian president.”
Dr Ahmed also expressed his take on who will be the candidate for the upcoming election. Any capable Nigerians, regardless of their origins, will be supported by the NEF.
“The North would back any credible candidate from the region who understands the problem, possess the capacity to solve them (challenges), and can build bridges across the country,” he added.
Ahmed said the North is concerned about the violence in the South-East as much as it is worried by the instability in parts of the North. He, however, said the North would not surrender by threats of secession ahead of the 2023 election.
“We don’t want organised violence or threat to produce the president of Nigeria. Secession is a bad option for South-East. It is not in the best interest of this country or anybody.”
