How Yar’adua’s death sparked zoning controversy – Kwankwaso

By Seyi Babalola

Rabiu Kwankwaso, a Nigeria Democratic Congress chieftain, has stated that the death of former President Umar Yar’adua led to misunderstanding over power rotation between Nigeria’s North and South.

Kwankwaso said that handing the South the presidential ticket in 2027 is the only way to put an end to the issue.

He stated this in an interview with Arise TV on Monday, justifying the NDC’s choice to zone the presidency to the south.

“We believe the best way to go now is to take it to the south so that we can eliminate the confusion, the confusion that emanated from the death of our brother, our friend, Umar Musa Yar’adua. That actually introduced the confusion into the system,” he said.

Yar’adua, a northerner, died in office in May 2010 after a long illness, having served less than one full term.

His deputy, Goodluck Jonathan from the South, finished the term and went on to win a full term of his own in 2011.

Kwankwaso admitted that people calculated the zoning question differently depending on where they started counting.

“One can argue that from 1999 to date, the South has done more years than the North. But it depends on how it suits you,” he said.

He said the cleaner starting point, and the one the NDC had settled on, was the end of the Buhari administration.

“What worked now is counting from Buhari. Anybody from the south on that side of the argument would say that Buhari had eight years, and the south is now doing its first term. In the next one year or so, it will be four years,” he said.

Kwankwaso said northern leaders who moved to the NDC accepted the southern zoning without a fight, saying unity was more important than a long argument over regional turns.

“Almost all of us joining from the north, we accepted. There is no point in fighting,” he said.

He added that the zoning debate, no matter how loudly people argued about it, was a distraction from a bigger question about the kind of leadership Nigeria needed.

“What is key now is not the presidency from the north or from the south.

“What is key is to have quality leadership, people who are enthusiastic, determined and committed to give the country the leadership it deserves,” he said.