The former Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has warned against a possible apocalyptic situation in which Nigeria might produce two unfit persons as candidates for the 2023 presidential elections if the country remains fixated on zoning the topmost political office.
The former CBN boss emphasized that rather Nigeria needs a president who can deliver, irrespective of where he/she comes from.
Sanusi’s assertion is coming days after the northern governors and traditional rulers rejected the position of their southern counterparts that President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor should come from the South.
But Sanusi, who spoke in an interview on Arise Television on the nation independence, argued that zoning the presidency to a particular region may leave the country with “two useless candidates” in 2023.
He said: “I have always objected to this idea that we should focus on where the president comes from.
“We have got southern governors saying we want the presidency and some northern governors saying that they want it in the north. Have you noticed that nobody has given the name of what they want?
“This whole thing is to corner the presidency to one part of the country and the big masquerade will come out.
“And that is why at the end of the exercise, you end up as Nigeria… presented with two useless candidates. Those who want to be president should show their face either from the north or the south
“Meanwhile, we have before us very serious issues. You have a simple issue of electronic transmission of results which is designed to make the electoral process fairer and you have people saying that they do not want it, shamelessly announcing to the country that they want to rig. Why are we not talking about these issues?
“The greatest weakness we have as a country is that we do not think. We are very smart when it comes to making money by doing our work but we do not apply critical intellect to… and these guys just take the entire country for a ride.
“Give me a president from any part of the country who can deliver and we should vote for him. He is not taking the presidency to his hometown.”