Ahead of the 2015 general election, northern youths, under the aegis of Arewa Youth Stakeholders, declared on Thursday to support only a northern candidate with credible antecedents to challenge President Goodluck Jonathan.
At a summit held in Kaduna, North West Nigeria, representatives of the various youth groups noted that with the unanimous endorsement of President Goodluck Jonathan by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as its sole candidate in 2015, there is the need for the North to screen all presidential aspirants from the region in order to come up with a consensus candidate.
They emphasized the need to have a credible candidate who would contest on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, which is seen as the only alternative platform for the region to challenge the incumbent President.
Guest Speaker at the summit, Mr Hassan Ibrahim, said that with the array of aspirants from the North jostling to succeed President Jonathan, like the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, General Muhammadu Buhari, Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso and a host of others, there is the need to scrutinise all of them based on their contributions to the development of the North and thereafter make a good choice.
Their argument was that the North has been marginalised for a long time by present and past leaders, and now needs a trusted leader who would address the issue of insecurity, poverty and unemployment in the region.
To achieve this, the youths said that the North must seek the support of their brothers and sisters from other parts of the country, using all democratic and peaceful means.
They, however, faulted the PDP for endorsing President Jonathan as the sole presidential candidate of the party in 2015, stating that such endorsement negates the principles of true democracy and rule of law.
The youths also advised the President to concentrate on tackling the various challenges facing the country.
It was not the first time that a group from the North would come up with this type of consensus arrangement.
In 2011, a group of northern political leaders endorsed former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, as the region’s sole candidate who contested against President Jonathan during the PDP primary.
