Posted by By Gbenga Olarinoye on
Osogbo - A Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Ebenezer Babatope, has cautioned Northern leaders who are clamouring for power shift....
Osogbo - A Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Ebenezer Babatope, has cautioned Northern leaders who are clamouring for power shift to their zone next year to handle the issue with care.
Fielding questions from newsmen on the state of the nation in Osogbo yesterday, the former Minister of Transport and Aviation stated that he personally would welcome power to shift to the north after the tenure of President Olusegun Obasanjo but noted that the utterances of some northern leaders may scuttle the arrangement.
His words: 'I did not see anything wrong in power being shifted to the north come 2007 but the way and manner our northern leaders are going about it through their utterances is certainly not going to be in their interest.
'Going by recent postures and the arrogant manner some nothern leaders have taken the issue, power shift to the north is certainly not going to be in their interest. They should negotiate for it with the remaining zones, since politics is all about give and take," he added.
Chief Babatope noted that despite the fact that SouthWest would not contest for 2007 presidential election, the northern leaders should not see it as a licence to ulter utterances that could mar the interest of the north.
According to him, though the PDP as a party has not taken position on where the presidential ticket would go 'but the fact still remains that the whole process of democracy is to do away with thurggery, violent and hooliganism."
Chief Babatope maintained that since there are six geo-political zones in the country, the next president could emerge from any of the five zones excluding the South-West.
He allayed the fear of President Obasanjo staying in office beyond 2007, saying 'the Obasanjo I know will hand over power to a new president next year and will not spend a day longer than the required tenure."