Capacity and not ethno-religious considerations must be the guide to choose leaders in 2023, Prof Iyorwuese Hagher, Chairman, Bukola Saraki Campaign Advocacy Council has said.
Hagher was Minister of State for Health and also for Power and Steel between 1994 and 1998. He was Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Canada between 2008 and 2012.
He told our correspondent on Monday in Calabar that in 2023, Nigeria needs a president that is not a product of zoning.
Hagher had been leading Saraki’s advocacy council campaign train on a nationwide tour on consultations on the aspiration of its principal to become Nigeria’s president on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
“Many people say Nigerians are too ethno-religious but they are also people who prefer capacity to ethnic and religious sentiments.
“On June 12, 1993, Nigerians elected the MKO Abiola/BabaganaKingibe ticket; it was a Muslim-Muslim ticket, but was regarded as the fairest election that ever took place in Nigeria.
“What Nigeria needs today is somebody who will unite Christians and Muslims and Sen. Bukola Saraki fits into this definition,’’ Hagher told our correspondent
He said as President of African Leadership Institute, USA, he was one of those that fought for the introduction of zoning to obliterate the politics of north and south dichotomy.
This, he explained, was to give opportunities to both regions to rule the country alternately, but the system was abused.
He said while he would no longer advocate for zoning as criterion for choosing a president, he would support it again if it became popular in the country.
He said the zoning arrangement would also work for Saraki since he is from the North-Central geopolitical zone that had never produced a civilian president or vice-president.
Hagher said the former senate president who demonstrated capacity while in office as Kwara governor and senator was a bridge builder and presently a pillar in the PDP.
“Remember that after studying as a medical doctor in Britain, he came back and studied economics to the extent that he became a banker at Societe General Bank.
“He understands economics; it was when he was Special Assistant on Budget to former President Olusegun Obasanjo that Nigeria was able to pay back its foreign debts.
“He was there and he saw it happen and he understands the language of foreign finance.
“There has been a clear disrespect for the rule of law and the separation of powers, so, Nigeria needs a young man below 60 and has the strength and will to rescue this nation,’’ Hagher stressed.
Saraki was governor of Kwara between 2003 and 2011, after which he was elected to the senate in 2011 on the platform of the PDP.
He was re-elected in 2015 on the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC) where he rose to the position of the President of the Senate.
Saraki defected again to the PDP in 2018.