The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum has said the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, should retire from politics because of his old age as he may not cope with the complexities and challenges of leading a country such as Nigeria.
The AYCF National leader, Yerima Shettima, stated this in an interview with SaharaReporters on Sunday.
Shettima added that Tinubu should be contented with the role of grooming young brilliant minds to take over the affairs of the country as Nigeria needed to be forward-looking, not to “recycle old hands.”
The Arewa leader said, “Well, I’m not in a position to say exactly how old Tinubu is, because his age has been the subject of controversy for many years. However, going by the latest trends on the global democratic space, I doubt if he is still young and agile enough to cope with the challenge of modern governance.
“With due respect to Asiwaju, I see no harm if he retires from politics because he was governor and a Senator many years ago. You see, I believe that Nigeria’s leadership should be about mentoring young ones to take over from the old brigade and not recycling the old hands.
“Moreover, the Asiwaju is already an accomplished citizen and should be content with the position of a guardian to young generation as we’ve seen him do since 2015.”
When asked about the position of Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, Northern Elders Forum’s spokesperson said it did not matter if the next President after President Muhammadu Buhari came from the North.
He said, “We should de-emphasise geographical location and stick to majority or minority. These are the two elements, around which our analysis should revolve. I don’t think democracy is about ethnicity, religion or geographical location and I believe that this is point of argument by the Northern Elders Forum. The real justice, equity and balance under the democratic system as we all know is when the majority have their way and minority have their say.
“This has been the reality is democracy was born, some 200 years ago. Without prejudice to the right of all Nigerians to contest for the presidential seat, this should not blind us to the place of majority and minority in the democratic process. I tend to agree with the position of NEF on this basis.”
On the clamour for Igbo 2023 presidency, Shettima added, “Well, my position is that the Igbos, like other Nigerians are free to contest the nation’s presidency but the voters reserve the right to choose the candidate they want. However, I have the feeling that by their style of approach to present day Nigerian politics, they have plenty of avoidable mistakes.”
