A Labour Party senator representing Edo South senatorial district in the national assembly, Neda Imasuen, has advised northern politicians aspiring for the position of the president to wait for 2031.
Imasuen said the advice became necessary following the unwritten constitution that zoned the position of the presidency between the Northern and Southern.
He spoke during a chat with newsmen in Benin City.
“The arrangement, whether written or unwritten, is that the North will govern for eight years, and the South will also govern for eight years. That is the battle those politicians aspiring to contest the next 2027 presidential elections will be faced with the roadblock.
“At some point, they will agree with themselves and say, let the South just finish its eight years, and then they will continue from there after the Southern good eight years in office. So that’s my take on it. I don’t worry about it because it’s an arrangement that is spoken or unspoken.
“There’s an understanding between the North and the South. Buhari was not someone whose policies I admired. As far as I’m concerned, he did little or nothing at all. But as bad as that was, everybody closed their eyes and let him do his eight years.
“Even the North that is talking now, they saw Buhari they didn’t clamor that they should take over for him, and they allowed the eight years. So, the 2027 presidential is not going to be any different now because we have a president who, in my opinion,n, is actually doing well”, he said.
Imasuen, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct, and Public Petitions noted that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu would be reelected for a second term because he has demonstrated courage and strong will in the governance of the country.
The Labour Party senator thumped up for President Tinubu in the handling of the tax bill recently passed by the national assembly and signed into law by the president.
He opined that the President’s resilience to stick to his tax reform bills without backing down despite the strong opposition that trailed the bills was an example of his courage.
“Now we have a president who in my opinion, is doing well. And why do I say he’s doing well? He’s a man with courage. He has such strong courage that is unbelievable.
“I’ll give you an example: when we are faced with a tax bill, see a whole lot of things happening on the Senate floor that nobody sees.
“Especially when we have a closed door, no camera, and people think we’re sharing money, but sometimes we are using unwanted language and throwing tantrums at each other and all that just because you are holding strongly to your views.
“We’re holding strongly to our views, and because of that, the northerners said they will never support him for a second term; some presidents will say, let me back down because of the second term, but he said no, I will do the right thing.
“So for me, he is a man of courage who didn’t because the second term fails to do the right thing”, he stated.
He also opined that President Tinubu’s determination to conduct a credible population census was also evidence of his courage.
“If you look at the population now, he said we should have an accurate census. But many presidents would not want to touch it because it’s very sensitive.
“You know, North is so heavy on population, and to take an accurate census would create a lot of offset in the country. But he doesn’t care. He said, ‘Look, we have to face it, let’s face it once and for all. For me, he’s a courageous man”, he added.