2023: NYLF to Southern Governors, ""Your Declaration Insensitive, Offensive" - 2023 Presidential election Will be North verses South

Daily Rendezvous

Northern Youth Leaders Forum (NYLF), has described  the Lagos declaration by the Southern governors demanding for a Southern President in 2023 as provocative, insensitive, offensive, confrontational and a political assault on all well meaning Nigerian.

According to the group, it is a deliberate and intentional scheming to project the political interest of some few individuals against a collective National interest and concern for the overall wellbeing of Nigeria.

Comrade Eliot Afiyo, the National President of NYLF, made the position of the group known at a press conference in Yola, Adamawa state.

Eliot said Southern governors have exposed their political inexperience and infancy and lack of interest for the general wellbeing of Nigeria as a country.

Afiyo who was speaking to pressmen after a Six day consultative tour of the North-East Zone following the endorsement of Senator Bala Mohammed as NYLF presidential Candidate for 2023, maintained that the declaration has established the fact that, the Southern governors lack political mastery and planning.

"The implication of this declaration

tends to tell Northerners that the 2023 presidential election would be based on North verses South instead of the political parties.

"We consider this declaration as provocative, insensitive, offensive, challenging and a political war which must be given thorough and intelligent consideration and action", he stated.

Afiyo pointed out that  no matter how important the 2023 presidency is to the South, the declaration is ill-timed,ill-advised, wrongly calculated and presented.

He therefore challenge the Southern governors to summoned the courage to specify the geopolitical zone, if they desire the presidency.

The NYLF has also warn the Nigeria Labour Congress NLC not to hold any form of protest in Kaduna state or any northern state against any policy except insecurity.

Afiyo , who condemned the NLC’s action in Kaduna said  NYLF lost 67 of it's members in the protest staged by NLC in Kaduna.

He noted that instead of staging protests against insecurity and other obnoxious policies of the federal government, the labour was busy staging uncalled protest against a state government for doing what is legally expedient.

“Kaduna State is presently engulfed with insecurity leading to killings, kidnapping and many more, the NLC led by Comrade Ayuba Wabba did not feel any concern that requires mass protest.

“The increase in pump price of petrol has become a recurring decimal and electricity tariff are being increased on quarterly basis yet Comrade Wabba did not think of any minor protest at least to draw the attention of the people, but organised a mass protest because Kaduna State Government wanted to downsize the workforce which constitute only 20% of the population of Kaduna State.

Even the minimum wage that was approved for the workers is not paid by many state governors and NLC does not bother about it because NLC is yet to implement it for their workers,” he said.

While regretting the massive loses of lives and properties inflicted on Kaduna residents as a result of the strike Afiyo warned Wabba never again contemplate such rash action as it will attract the wrath of his group.

The group commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), for the introduction of electronic transmission of election results in Info and Edo states governorship elections.

Afiyo says this action has given credibility to the process and eliminates ballot box snatching, falsification of results and other election violence.

NYLF therefore urged the National Assembly to include electronic transmission of election result but discard the electronic voting in the Amended Electoral Act for now because of the literacy ratio in the country especially in the North