Daily Independent Online.
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Thursday, July 08, 2004.
Bafarawa eyes presidency in 2007
By Sukuji Bakoji
Bureau
Chief,
Kaduna
As agitation for
power shift to the North in 2007 heightens, the Governor of Sokoto State,
Alhaji Dalhatu Attahiru Bafarawa, has said he would not mind joining the
presidential race if he gets the nod of his people.
He therefore urged
Northern politicians to close ranks to actualise the aspiration to produce the
president in 2007.
The governor
decried the political rivalry among the three zones in the North on of them
should produce the presidential candidate, saying the agitation for power shift
in 2007 should be of paramount importance.
Bafarawa, who spoke
in an interview with the Hausa Service of the Voice of America (VOA) monitored
in Kaduna on Wednesday, prayed for peace in the north in particular and the
nation in generally.
But in a swift
reaction, a former Minister for Special Duties during the regime of General
Sani Abacha, Alhaji Wada Nas, said rotational president is undemocratic since
it has not been practiced anywhere in the world.
Nas, who is also
the National Chairman of the Peoples Salvation Party (PSP), criticised the
proponents of power shift whom he described as bunch of failed politicians and
opportunists.
Speaking in Kaduna,
the PSP leader said the political class has failed woefully thereby putting
democracy in jeopardy.
Said he: “If
zoning is something that is good, you will find it in practice in so many
places. Is it practiced in America? Is it obtained in Great Britain? It is
obtained in France and other democratic nations? No.
“Therefore,
zoning is a misnomer in democracy. That is why these countries are not
practicing it. Why should we do it? It is not political. Anybody who is
fighting for zoning is a lazy politician.
“In a
democracy, let the presidency be open for free contest. Was MKO Abiola a
northerner? But he was about to get it. He got so many votes in the North,
defeating even a northerner,” Nas said.
