The Guardian (Nigeria)

SWAGA, Oyinlola, PFN back southern govs on power shift, others

• Osun ex- gov says inequality makes rotational presidency imperative • Group urges South- West governors to rescue detained Lagos rally protesters

- By Chris Irekamba ( Lagos), Ayodele Afolabi ( Ado- Ekiti) and Rotimi Agboluaje ( Ibadan)

THE South West Agenda for Asiwaju 2023 ( SWAGA) has said that the southern governors’ resolve that the next president should come from the zone is a boost for Nigeria’s nascent democracy.

National Chairman of SWAGA, Dayo Adeyeye, in a statement signed by his Media Manager, Mr. Gboyega Adeoye, said the resolve of the Southern Governors Forum was a good step towards the unity of the country, particular­ly at this time when the country is being threatened by centrifuga­l forces.

Adeyeye said the decisions were apt, “not only for the governors, but for rooting for a level playing ground among the three major zones of the southern Nigeria to warm up to produce the next president of Nigeria.

He said such agreement among the governors would douse the current tension raised against Nigeria’s democratic order by lingering ethnic violence across the country.

SIMILARLY, a former governor of Osun State, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, yesterday, supported the southern governors on rotational presidency, saying inequality in the country has made the call imperative.

This also came as Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State said Nigeria needed men and women of conscience who could think progressiv­ely about the country for posterity.

Makinde spoke while receiving members of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) South- West Reconcilia­tion Committee in his office, which was led by Oyinlola to present the report of the committee with recommenda­tions on how to unite the party in the region.

ALSO, the Pentecosta­l Fellowship of Nigeria ( PFN), yesterday, backed the Southern Governors Forum on rotational presidency.

The associatio­n, which stated this at a press conference, said if the southern governors feel that rotational presidency is what should be the ideal thing for Nigeria, then Nigerians should support it, as well as go for it.

MEANWHILE, a self- determinat­ion group, Yoruba Ko’ya Liberation Movement ( YKLM), yesterday, urged governors of South- West geo- political zone to rescue the 49 Yoruba Nation agitators arrested in Ojota, Lagos, by the police.

The group, in a statement made available to journalist­s by its Director of Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Oluwajuyit­an, also lauded the governors on the unanimous decision taken to ban open grazing of cattle in South- West.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Nigeria