2031 Presidency: North Will Not Be Threatened, Intimidated – Hakeem Baba-Ahmed Fires PANDEF

The Northern Elders' Forum (NEF) has warned Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) against threatening the north over the 2023 presidential election.

Recall that PANDEF had in a statement on Thursday slammed the north for wanting to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.

The group led by elder statesman Edwin Clark asked the north to wait till 2031 before producing another president.

But speaking to Daily Trust, NEF spokesperson, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, warned that the north will not be intimidated into giving up the presidency in 2023.

He however stated that the region is ready to negotiate with the south on who succeed Buhari.

Baba-Ahmed said: “The truth of the matter is, whatever PANDEF says, no matter what any group says, the fundamental right of every citizen to elect his candidate and the rights of all political parties to choose candidates must be respected. Between this legal provision and the exigencies of managing a plural and diverse nation, politicians should fill the vacuum by doing the serious work.

“The north is willing to sit down with anybody and discuss how these things can be done, but we can't get anything by threats and again, we have said this so many times, don't threaten the north, we will not be intimidated, there is a way to do this, it is what the law says we should do, it is what the political process demands we should do. And when you keep speaking in this kind of language, it just simply foul the atmosphere.”