The North-Central Renaissance Movement (NCRM), a coalition leading the agitation for presidency to be ceded to the North-Central geopolitical zone, has called on the major political parties in the country to cede the presidential ticket or at most, the vice presidential slot to the region in the 2027 general election.

The Movement declared that the main parties; including the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), will lose votes from the zone if they fail to accede to their demand.

Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Friday, addressed by its chairman and convener, Professor K’tso Nghargbu, NCRM also asked the other geopolitical zones to support the North-Central quest for presidency.

The coalition had insisted that having not produced an elected president or vice president since independence, the zone comprising; Niger, Kogi, Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa and Kwara State, including the FCT-Abuja, should be given the chance to occupy any of the two top offices.

Professor Nghargbu said the North-Central region was blessed with enormous political resources to solve the leadership challenges confronting the country, especially in the face of the growing bitterness between the far northern political elites and their counterparts from the southern part of Nigeria.

He said apart from experienced politicians and leaders like Dr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim from Kwara State, who has signified interest to contest for the 2027 presidential election on the platform of the PDP, other top-notch personalities from the zone will be joining the race.

“Today, we found it dutiful, an act of responsibility towards our people to once more make an appeal to the fact that the North Central geopolitical zone seeks, makes requests, makes demand that political parties should cede or rather consider giving a political human capital or human resource from North Central geopolitical zone their presidential ticket.

“This is important given the growing disaffection now I’m talking about the political class, growing resentment, growing suspicion, growing bitterness between the northern political elites and their counterparts from the southern part of Nigeria. Once again, the North Central zone surfaces or emerges as the best solution towards national unity.

“We are appealing to the five other geopolitical zones, and especially the major political parties in Nigeria that they consider giving their presidential ticket to people from the North Central geopolitical zone. We say this with all sense of stewardship to the great country called Nigeria, without any prejudice towards national upliftment and development.

“We say this not as a threat, but emphatically that any political party that despises and continues to despise our position will also be despised by our votes. So Nigerians, Nigerian voting populace, Nigerian political elites, and of course the major political parties, once again we reiterate that patronizing us means having our votes.

“Despising us means losing our votes. I want to believe that we have spoken adequately to the political conscience of Nigeria, which begs for more peace, tranquilly, and prosperity,” Nghargbu declared.

He also expressed support for the moves to entrench the independent candidacy in the Nigerian Constitution, saying it will provide opportunity for aspirants who are denied tickets by political parties to pursue their ambitions independently.

“The independent candidature is one of the answers, is one of the solutions that Nigeria is looking towards, checking the excesses of political parties that are money-drunk and Godfather-drunk. Let me put it that way. So the North Central movement is very much in support of the inclusion of independent candidates in the Constitution,” he stated. (LEADERSHIP)