Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has repeated his call for the next president of Nigeria to come from the south.
Mr El-Rufai said in an interview with BBC Hausa on Saturday that despite the rotation system being unconstitutional, he would not support a northerner to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.
“In Nigerian politics, there is a system of rotation, in which everyone agrees that if the north rules for eight years, the south will rule for eight years,” he said.
“That is why I came out and said that after President Buhari has been in office for eight years, no northerner should run for office. Let the southerners also have eight years.
“If you look at how I am, I don’t take anyone to work with me for the zone he came from. The eligibility I look at is if who is entrusted to the public will hold it properly.
“It has been said that I have loved the presidency since I was a minister in the FCT. This is nonsense. I do not want the Nigerian presidency. God gives power, whether you like it or not, if He wants it, He will give it to you, but I have never sought the presidency of Nigeria, no one can say I have ever sought it.”
Buhari’s nephew Mamman Daura had played down the rotation or zoning system in a recent interview with BBC Hausa, saying competence should prevail over zoning in government positions.
