A pro-democracy group, North Central Renaissance Movement, NCRM, has urged the All Progressive Congress, APC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to pick their presidential candidates from the North Central zone for the 2023 election.
DAILY NIGERIAN reports that the North Central states comprise Niger, Kogi, Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa, Kwara and Federal Capital Territory, FCT.
In a communiqué issued at the end of its maiden Congress on Tuesday and jointly signed by its Chairman, Secretary, and PRO, Dr Nghargbu k’tso, Aliyu Mustapha and Onoja Alexander, respectively, the group said the call became necessary in the spirit of equity, fairness, justice and political inclusiveness.
According to the group, such action will simultaneously satisfy the demands of political astuteness expected of any party which has her hands-on the pulse of the nation.
The communique said: “Every progressive-minded Nigerian and indeed all people of goodwill will not fail to see how in this 4th Republic the North West, North East, South-South and South West have fared better than the North Central and the South East which are still zero years in terms of access and ascension to the two top offices in the Presidency.
“It is thus our contention, as it should be that of any politically astute person, that in the run-up to 2023, all political parties must be acutely alive and responsive to the demands of social justice within the context of the realities shaping up now to determine 2023 Presidential race.”
The group further demanded an end to the alleged political marginalization by “correcting historical imbalances that engender pain and frustration among all or a section of the populace”.
“It is one practical way of reassuring us that we are not mere adjuncts but bonafide stakeholders in the One North project, fully entitled in our own rights to aspire and run for the Office of President of Nigeria is ceded to be the North Central.
“In line with our dataset above, we have demonstrated that there is hardly a more politically excluded, and disgruntled, GPZ in today’s Nigeria than the North Central.
“The exclusion revealed by this data when weighed against the North Central’s contributions to the socio-political stability of the party, the North and indeed, the whole country, is enough to raise questions of her value as a ‘co-equal’ team player and ally in the North, and in the Nation,” the group added.
