If the North could indulge immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari with two terms in office despite his woeful performance, why deny President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who is doing so well a second term in 2027?
This is the challenge thrown at northern politicians scheming to return power to the North in the next political dispensation by Senator Neda Bernards Imasuen representing Edo South senatorial district at the National Assembly at a media chat at the weekend with members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Edo State Council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ).
Recall that amid President Tinubu’s perceived unfavourable policies which had greatly affected the economic and political fortunes of the north, there had been threats that they would be withdrawing their support for him in the next election season.
However, chiding the northern groups championing this agenda, Imasuen stated unequivocally that their efforts would hit a brick wall.
Senator Imasuen of the Labour Paty, LP, also expressed mixed feelings over the recent Supreme Court judgement which sacked Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the party. While hailing the judgement for sealing Abure’s fate, he nevertheless wondered if the resolution of the protracted leadership crisis that had rocked the party for some years was not coming “a little too late”.
Imasuen, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions, contended that “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 clamour it should be taken over from him and they allowed the eight years. And so, it is not any different now that we have a president who in my opinion, is actually doing well”.
Senator Imasuen noted that “the arrangement whether written or unwritten, is that the north will do eight years, and the South will do eight years, and so, that’s the battle. That is where they’ll be faced with a roadblock. At some point, they will agree with themselves and say let the South just finish its eight years and let them take eight years. So that’s my take on it. I don’t worry about it because it’s an arrangement that is spoken or unspoken”.
Upbeat about the Supreme Court judgement sacking Abure as his party’s national chairman, Imasuen however expressed worry about the way forward for a party he noted had been “decimated” and abandoned by most of its members.
According to him, “Sincerely, I also welcome the Supreme court judgement that sacked Barrister Julius Abure as the national chairman of the Labour Party in Nigeria.
“A lot has gone on in the Labour Party, and it is very unfortunate. So, Abure, who was the chairman at the time, in my opinion, really didn’t have the Labour party at heart because it became a personal thing.
“It became something that didn’t really matter to them, and it was like let’s fight and tear the party into pieces instead of preserving it. That sort of thing was not what I expected from someone who led the party at a time. And so, he has been dragging the party in and out of court and now that the Supreme Court has finally sealed it, so be it. It’s a welcome development.
“But the question for me and for all of us now is where do we go from here? Someone spoke with me on the matter early this morning (Friday), and I said, I just hope that it’s not a little too late for what has just come up because the Labour Party is almost decimated. Most of the members have gone. Will this judgement bring them back? I don’t know. Will it energise those who are there now? Again, I don’t know. So, sometime, we’ll talk.”
But Senator Imasuen seemed to prevaricate when asked if he would be seeking re-election on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC. “Why do you say APC? It’s a good question but remember what I said when we started. I said that I’m glad to be part of this. It’s a partnership that I seek. And I also said that whatever decision or direction I take, you’ll be the first to know”, he stated.
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