Former spokesperson and ex-Director-General of Peter Obi’s Presidential Campaign Organisation, Doyin Okupe has stated that it is unfair for the North to take over power in 2027.
According to Okupe, geopolitical considerations indicates that the South, not the North, should produce Nigeria’s next president.
Speaking to newsmen on Thursday, Okupe admitted that the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, is eminently qualified to run in 2027 but would face the same challenges as in 2023 when his bid was perceived as disrupting the North-South power rotation.
The ex-presidential spokesman said the problem with the idea of Atiku’s presidency in 2027 is geopolitics, not age, adding that the South should be allowed to complete its eight-year term, just as the North did before Tinubu’s coming.
Okupe said, “Atiku failed in 2023, not because he was not a good person, but because people felt that a northern Muslim cannot succeed another northern Muslim after eight years.
“If Atiku still contests in 2027, he has a right. He is eminently qualified and one of the best we have, but geopolitics is an issue.
“The conditionality still persists, a Southerner would have just completed four years and needs another four-year term.
“It’s not in the constitution, but we agree that when a Northerner does his eight years, a Southerner will do.
“So, the North cannot now terminate the tenure of the South in 2027. It is not going to work.”
