THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
Even though the next presidential election is four year away, jostling for who will succeed President Muhammadu, when his second and last term in office ends, is already in full swing.
The ongoing controversy over corruption allegations against Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is seen by Yoruba activists as an attempt to prevent the professor of law from taking over from his boss.
Southwest Progressive Youths and People’s Movement, working in conjunction with Prominent Progressive Groups Regional, has thrown its weight behind the emergence of a Yoruba President come 2023.
The Yoruba group called for a strict adherence to the political zoning principle in the ruling All Progressives Party (APC) which, in its view, should lead to the emergence of a Yoruba President come 2023.
The group’s National Director of Projects, Comrade Taiwo Ajayi, and National Secretary, Comrade Anthony Aduloju, in a statement jointly signed named their pursuit ‘2023 Presidential Agenda’s Project’ (2023YPAP) and it will function as a pressure group within the APC.
Ajayi added that the national leadership of the project after a special strategic meeting held in Ilorin, capital of Kwara State, urged Nigerians to support their cause to prevent injustice of power staying in the North after Buhari had spent 8 years in office.
“Our mission is to strategise and lobby the party (APC) to give the 2023 Presidential ticket to the southwest.
“Our ultimate goal is not only to ensure that the 2023 Presidential ticket goes to a very qualified Yoruba progressive personality but to mobilise Nigerians for his or her victory on the platform of our party come 2023″, it said.
The Secretary Aduloju noted that the group had a growing network that cuts across all states of the federations.
There is a principle of zoning in Nigerian politics, whereby the presidency rotates between the North and South. And when a president comes from a region, the vice president will hail from the other region. Since President Buhari, a Muslim northerner, would have spent 8 years in power by 2023, the office should shift to the South. In the ruling APC, there are two power blocs: the Muslim North and the Southwest. The alliance between the two blocs enabled Buhari to win in 2015 and get reelected this year.
Kola Tella
