2023: Any party with Northern presidential candidate will lose -Ngige

By Timi Black
Chief Correspondent

The current Minister of Labour and Employment, and former Governor of Anambra State, Senator Chris Nwabueze Ngige, has said that political parties that will field Northern presidential candidate come 2023 will fail.

The minister said this in his interview with newsmen on the raging debate over rotation and zoning of offices ahead of the 2023 presidential poll.

The federal minister Ngige, who is a chieftain of the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, among others, also spoke on insinuations that the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, plans to flag a northern presidential candidate to beat APC at the poll, and why South-East should produce President Buhari’s successor.

The statement read partly: “However, if they go North, I can tell them that as it is today, they will lose the presidential election, no matter the candidate they bring from the North. The South-Easterners will feel that they have been used and dumped. The South-Southerners will feel that they have been used and dumped. The South-Westerners will feel it is the turn of South as the Southern governors said.

“In the North-Central, there is a minority sympathy in the Middle-belt. There is also minority sympathy in North-East. Those who are doing the calculation to go North and bring a million votes will be disappointed because even those voters, you think will be doing North for North, Muslim for Muslim, will not go with you. The voters are wiser. What has past Northern leaders done? Did they do things for the North like Ahmadu Bello did? Did they do things for them like Tafawa Balewa? Did they do things for them like Aminu Kano? The answer is no. So, if the PDP makes that mistake, they will have a severe beating more than they received from Buhari”.