By Aiyeku Timothy
Members of the Kogi State House of Assembly have called for the zoning of the presidency in 2023 to the North Central region.
The lawmakers, therefore, called on political leaders to ensure the realization of their wish by lobbying in favour of the region.
The lawmakers made this appeal on Tuesday in Ilorin during an advocacy visit to Kwara Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to build support for the presidential ambition of their governor, Yahaya Bello.
The Speaker of the Assembly, Matthew Kolawole, said the zone had not benefited from power-sharing in the country under the current dispensation.
“Northcentral has not really benefited from the power-sharing of this country under a democratic setting, particularly the president and vice president. We are lobbying Your Excellency that when it is time to talk about zoning arrangement, let the presidency be zoned to the north-central,” Mr Kolawole said.
“We are in Kwara State on an advocacy visit. Kogi State House of Assembly took it upon ourselves without sponsorship from anybody that we want to support our own governor.
“We want to support him because of the existing relationship between us. We have a perfect and robust relationship,” he said.
Mr Kolawole said since Bello assumed office, insecurity had reduced in the state, adding that the governor has also managed ethnic relationships in the state, stressing, “He is a complete detribalised Nigerian.”
In his remarks, Governor AbdulRazaq called for better political representation of the zone at the federal level.
AbdulRazaq said the North Central region, with its huge human and material resources, has never produced the president or vice president since independence.
The Kogi State commissioner for information and communication, Kingsley Fanwo had stated that the Kogi State Governor is under pressure to contest the 2023 presidential race.
His words “The people are calling on him to run for president but he has not come out clearly to tell us whether he is accepting that clarion call or not,” he told TheCable over the phone.
“All over the six zones, we are having a lot of people calling on him to come and run. If you look at the people calling on him, it cuts across all parties and is not just an APC thing.
“He is a unifier. He is very capable and qualified, he perfectly fits into that bracket of what Nigeria wants.”
