Mohammed O. Taoheed reports,
Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has insisted that it will mobilise the electorate to vote against the emergence of another president from the North in the forthcoming 2023 general elections.
Ken Robinson, the National Publicity Secretary of the group, stated this during its consultative visit to presidential flag-bearer of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prince Adewole Adebayo, on Tuesday in Abuja.
PANDEF proposed to organize people from Niger Delta creeks to clampdown on the alleged injustice against Southern Nigeria.
He noted that under the present administration, some sections of the country have been treated as if they do not exist, saying that among the 17 military, para-military and Intelligence security agencies in the country, 14 of them are headed by Northerners and only three from Southern Nigeria.
Equally, he said that the Nigerian National Petroleum Commission Limited has 11 key management and board members, pointing out that while the North has 7 out of these members, the South can boast of just 4.
“When the campaign starts, we will mobilise ourselves, speak to good Nigerians in Northern Nigeria and in Southern Nigeria why the next president of Nigeria should come from the Southern part of Nigeria.
“Anything short of that, and we are not saying this as a threat, yes, we were in a meeting with people from the Dutch Embassy, three days ago I was in a meeting with the British High commissioner, and we told them this thing that Nigeria will no longer be what it has been if the next president goes North.
“The statement is not a threat. And we are serious. We will mobilise our people in the creeks, in the farm lands to the streets across Nigeria to work together.”
Robinson added that the consultation with Southern presidential candidates is to ensure that a credible leader emerges by 2023.
The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, Adewole Adebayo, who received leadership of PANDEF in Abuja commented that the meeting was part of a conversation that will help unite Nigeria.
In the words of the SDP candidate, it was all about the unity of the country , “The unity of Nigeria is number one,” he said, insisting that there was no room for casting doubt on the continuity of Nigeria.
Adebayo promised that not even a single square meter of the country will be taken away.
“Niger Delta has been a source of stupendous wealth but nothing can be cured with justice.”
