Senator Ali Ndume, who is the Chairman of, Senate Committee on Army, has stated that it will be contrary to the constitution of the All Progressives Congress (APC) if the northern region is allowed to produce the party’s next presidential candidate.
The Yobe State-born Senator, who represents Borno South in the Senate, made this disclosure at a press roundtable organized by the Correspondents’ Chapel, Nigerian Union of Journalists, FCT Council, on Saturday.
According to him, any attempt to zone the party’s presidential ticket to the north would be tantamount to the third term after President Muhammad Buhari’s second term in office.
Senator Ndume said in the spirit of fairness, justice, and equity, any part of the country’s south should produce the next presidential candidate APC.
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He said: ‘I’m against APC producing its presidential candidate from the north. The APC presidential candidate should come from the south.
‘I have said it before and will still say it again that if we have a northerner as APC presidential candidate, to me, it is tantamount to the third term and it is not constitutional.
‘The (APC) constitution says the president shall serve two terms and we said then that the north should serve two terms.
‘If you say the north should produce the presidential candidate again, it means you are going for the third term, which is not fair and I believe in fairness, justice, and equality.
‘Let candidate from the south — and that means, south-south, southeast, and southwest — clinch the ticket.
‘For the south-east, let me say, for example, you want to be the head of this house and you are calling for the division of the house, will it work?
‘And I think the southeast needs to think about it. That is what is creating the rumour for the northerners to even say they want to be the president again. If you want to be president of Nigeria, you must believe in the unity of Nigeria. I support the candidate to come anywhere from the south.’
While commenting on the ravaging insecurity, Senator Ndume lamented that troops at the war front are ill-equipped to tackle the challenges.
He said the federal government must ensure that the armed forces have what it takes to fight insecurity.
‘And to do that, the security agencies must be well funded,’ he added.
The lawmaker also said there was nothing wrong if the federal government hired mercenaries and special forces from foreign countries to help combat insecurity.
‘I don’t see what is wrong in asking for help when you are overwhelmed,’ he concluded.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
