FORMER Kano State Governor and chieftain of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has said the death of former President Umar Musa Yar’Adua created the confusion surrounding Nigeria’s North-South power rotation arrangement.
News Point Nigeria reports that Kwankwaso stated that giving the 2027 presidential ticket to the South remains the best way to resolve the lingering debate over zoning and regional power sharing.
The former governor made the remarks during an interview on Arise TV on Monday while defending the decision of the Nigeria Democratic Congress to zone its presidential ticket to the South ahead of the 2027 general election.
“We believe the best way to go now is to take it to the south so that we can eliminate the confusion, the confusion that emanated from the death of our brother, our friend, Umar Musa Yar’adua. That actually introduced the confusion into the system,” he said.
Yar’Adua, a northerner, died in office in May 2010 after battling a prolonged illness, having served less than one full term as president.
Following his death, his deputy, Goodluck Jonathan from the South, completed the tenure before going on to win a fresh presidential term in 2011.
Kwankwaso admitted that the zoning debate has remained contentious because different political actors calculate the years spent in power differently depending on where they begin counting from.
“One can argue that from 1999 to date, the south has done more years than the north. But it depends on how it suits you,” he said.
According to him, the NDC decided that the most appropriate reference point for the zoning arrangement should be from the end of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
“What worked now is counting from Buhari. Anybody from the south on that side of argument would say that Buhari had eight years and the south is now doing its first term. In the next one year or so, it will be four years,” he stated.
Kwankwaso further disclosed that northern political leaders who recently joined the NDC accepted the decision to zone the presidency to the South without resistance because unity within the party was more important than prolonged regional arguments.
“Almost all of us joining from the north, we accepted. There is no point in fighting,” he said.
He, however, stressed that the controversy over zoning should not overshadow the broader issue of leadership quality in the country.
According to him, Nigerians should focus more on electing capable and committed leaders rather than concentrating solely on regional considerations.
“What is key now is not presidency from the north or from the south. What is key is to have quality leadership, people who are enthusiastic, determined and committed to give the country the leadership it deserves,” he said.
Kwankwaso and former presidential candidate Peter Obi formally joined the Nigeria Democratic Congress on May 3 after defecting from the African Democratic Congress amid internal disputes within the party.
At its national convention held in Abuja, the NDC officially ratified its decision to zone the party’s 2027 presidential ticket to the South.