By Progress Godfrey, Abuja
The indigenous People Of Nigeria (IPN), has called on the people of Nigeria, especially of the Fulani stock to embrace presidency zoning to the South-East after the tenure of president Buhari.
The group frowned at a statement credited to Alhaji Hakeem Ahmed, claiming that the North has exclusivity of the seat of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, adding that the North has the numbers.
The group in a statement by its convener, Mazi Nnamdi Iroegbu in Abuja Wednesday, said, “IPN, therefore calls on all Nigerians, especially people of Fulani stock, to reject Alhaji Hakeem and his bigotry, and embrace the call for power shift to Southern Nigeria after the presidential tenure of the incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari GCFR.
“It is an undisputed fact that at no time did Alhaji Hakeem sought nor receive a mandate from Northern Nigerians to speak for them on the 2023 Presidential race.
“It is sad that Alhaji Hakeem, a man from faraway Mauritania, will be allowed by respected leaders in the Northern Elders Forum to use their platform to push for ethnic bigotry that is capable of making other ethnic nationalities of Nigeria become antagonistic of indigenous Nigerian Fulanis.”
The group described as unfortunate and saddening the statement of fact that “Alhaji Hakeem, a migrant Fulani man from Mauritania, claims to be speaking the minds of the indigenous Nigerians of Northern extraction on the subject that he is not even qualified to speak about.”
He further stated that the Fulani ethnic community, which Alhaji Hakeem is using to disguise as North, is actually a minority ethnic group in Nigeria, hence, cannot solely determine which ethnic nationality gets what, when and how in Nigeria.
The IPN further emphasized that Hausa ethnic nationality is the predominant group in Northern Nigeria, adding that the North, which Alhaji Hakeem seeks to misrepresent, is no longer homogenous nor conquered enclaves of the minority Fulani ethnic nationality in Nigeria.
It therefore cautioned Alhaji Hakeem against making unguarded utterances and stoking ethnic tension that will consume innocent indigenous Nigerians in pursuit of his selfish political agenda. “We cannot tolerate hate speech from Alhaji Hakeem because while he has Mauritania to run to in time of crisis, we the indigenous Nigerians have no other country to run to.
“We therefore note that ignoble elites like Alhaji Hakeem and his cotravellers may be responsible for the spate of terrorism (banditry), insurgency and other security challenges bedeviling the Northern part of the country, ” Iroegbu added
The IPN restated its earlier stance that in the interest of Peace, Equity, Fairness and Justice, the Southern part of the country should be supported to produce Nigeria’s next president come 2023, particularly from the SOUTHEAST.
