Rabi’u Kwankwaso, the vice presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has said that the North does not always have to rule Nigeria.
He was said to have made this statement in an interview programme on News Central Television.
He was addressing his choice to run with a Southern presidential candidate.
The former governor of Kano state said the North believes in fairness, justice and mutual respect between the two regions.
When asked if there is a school of thought that says the North should always rule Nigeria, Kwankwaso pointed to his current political alignment as evidence that such thinking is not universal.
I don’t need to say it. I don’t think that argument can be on our side by what I’m doing now, being vice to somebody from the South.
“So believe, North, I tell you, believe in fairness, we believe in justice and we believe in mutual respect between the South and the North. And that has always been our stance,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kwankwaso says he believes the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, would honour his one-term pledge.
The former Kano State governor reportedly said this in an interview with Mr Kay on News Central’s 60 Minutes.
When asked whether Obi would run for president after the proposed arrangement, Kwankwaso said that the NDC flagbearer is a gentleman and will honor his promise.
“I believe personally that Peter Obi is a gentleman and I have every reason to trust him, particularly that he said it to the hearing of everybody. “Nobody should have any reason to doubt him,” Kwankwaso said.
He said the power-sharing arrangement within the NDC was based on mutual trust and a collective agreement among the coalition partners.
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Kwankwaso also said that allowing the South to finish an eight-year tenure is in line with the understanding reached by members of the alliance.
“We believe the southern part of the country should finish its second term, and with that, and to the hearing of everybody in this country, I don’t believe any gentleman would want to renege, would want to say no or change his or her mind,” he said.
He added: “Beyond individual ambitions, the coalition has a common governance roadmap for whoever eventually leads the country.”
He said the NDC’s first priority is to implement the agreed agenda and not to pursue the interest of any particular bloc in politics.
“More importantly, we have a short-term, medium-term and of course long-term plan for this country as a collective. “It does not matter whether it is him from the Obidient side, or my humble self from the Kwankwasiyya side or another side, we believe we have an agenda,” he said.
Kwankwaso said the coalition would work to ensure continuity of its programmes no matter who becomes president in the future.
“We will try as much as possible to ensure that whoever comes, maybe Peter, maybe me or any other person, would stick to that programme,” he added.
