Inter-party consensus group mobilises support for Southern presidency

The Inter-Party Presidential Consensus Forum (IPCF) formed to press for the emergence of a Southern president in 2023, has called on the 17 states in the region to work together toward producing a consensus candidate for the poll.

It demanded that both the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) should zone their presidential tickets to the Southern part of the country.

The political pressure group, in a statement issued in Abuja at the weekend, also expressed its belief that Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, possesses the best qualities to be elected the next President of Nigeria because of his antecedents as state chief executive.

The IPCF also called on politicians of northern extraction to resist the lure to contest the 2023 presidential election and allow the South to produce the next President, after the eight years tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari in the interest of national peace, justice, equity and fairness.

IPCF, in the statement jointly signed by its National Coordinator, Abubakar Danladi, and Secretary, Dr Olaniyi Adegbite, and made available to journalists in Abuja at the weekend, stressed that its decision was based on findings from a series of extensive surveys conducted across the country.

It explained that the result of its survey shows that most Nigerians, across the country, believed that Presidency should go to the South and that Governor Udom Emmanuel best fits into the frame of the President who has the capacity and state of mind to unite the nation and rebuild her infrastructure after President Buhari’s tenure.

“We have been conducting a series of surveys and reviews among Nigerians with Permanent Voters Card (PVCs) and the result shows that most Nigerians would support a younger leader as well as power-shift to the Southern parts of the country citing national peace, equity, justice and rapid development as major reasons.

“Interestingly, results from the Northern states show that voters from that region preferred a President from the Southern part of the country to succeed President Buhari.

“From the array of leaders including those that have indicated an interest in the Presidency, more Nigerians preferred the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Emmanuel Udom, who they believe is young, focused, accommodating and has demonstrated the capacity to unite Nigerians and get them to work together to rebuild the nation” IPCF revealed.

IPCF stressed that Governor Udom Emmanuel further scored higher than others because of his proven capacity in human capital and infrastructural development in critical sectors.

“IPCF also recognises Governor Emmanuel’s ability to establish and successfully manage highly specialized ventures including the Ibom Air, Ibom Deep Sea Port, Ibom Industrial Park/Jetty as well as power, refinery projects, gas processing plants and top-class health facilities which show that with his type of leadership our nation can indeed achieve success in such critical areas.

While disclosing that it will soon commence a nationwide consensus tour ahead of primaries by political parties, the group further said: “The Forum also noted the success of Governor Udom’s Maintain Peace Movement, which created the enabling peaceful atmosphere for enhanced productivity as well as harmonious living in a multifarious state. It is our informed stand that such a template should be adopted for sustainable peace and stability at the national level.”

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