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By Myke Agunwa
As the mega coalition under the African Democratic Congress (ADC) shops for 2027 Presidential flag bearer, former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Timi Frank, has cautioned the leadership of the coalition not to exclude any zone from the vying for the number one position in the country.
Frank who is an ally for former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, warned that any attempt to exclude any region from participating in the contest to select a presidential candidate for the coalition would result in a stillbirth of the coalition.
Frank, in a statement in Abuja on Monday, said Nigerians need a competent and compassionate president that would help restore the waning glory of the country and not one elected based on ethnic sentiments.
He urged leaders of the coalition not to be distracted by selfish agitation targeted at derailing their objective, which is to galvanise opposition to win the 2027 presidential election.
“Nigeria needs a president for all Nigerians, not a president for northern or southern Nigeria.
“For 2027, the president can come from anywhere, whether north or south. Let the Nigerian electorate vote their choice, whether from north, south, east, or west.
“I am opposed to the argument that a Northern aspirant should not contest. If it is a Northern aspirant that will give Nigerians the type of president we are looking for in Nigeria, let that aspirant run for the 2027 presidential election.
“If it is a Southern aspirant that will give Nigerians progressive governance, let that aspirant contest, emerge as a candidate, and win the presidential election. The South should be careful and urgently refrain from agitating for this so-called Southern presidency” Frank said.
Meanwhile, the presidential candidate of the ADC in the 2023 election, Dumebi Kachikwu, has claimed that the aim of the coalition is to engineer the emergence of Atiku as Presidential candidate in 2027.
Similary, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, the running mate of Peter Obi in the 2023 presidential election said that the coalition-consists of political bigwigs including former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, former presidential candidate Peter Obi, former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi, former Senate President David Mark, and numerous other former governors nursing presidential ambitions.