Senator Ali Ndume, representing Borno South in the National Assembly has said he’s against the All Progressive Party presenting a Northerner as its presidential candidate in the 2023 general election.
Chairman Senate Committee on Army said doing that would mean a third term for the North as President Muhammaudu Buhari is from that zone.
Ndume stated this on Saturday while speaking with newsmen, adding that he is in support of any candidate from the Southern part of the country.
He also said it is against the APC constitution for the North to produce the party’s candidate, stating that for the sake of fairness, justice and equality, the South should clinch the APC Presidential ticket for the 2023 general election.
Ndume 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 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 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 south-west — clinch the ticket.
“For the southeast, 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.”