Ahead of the 2023 presidential election, a protest against the presidential aspiration of former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, erupted simultaneously, Monday, in Lagos, Adamawa, Kaduna, Plateau, Benue, and Kaduna states, demanding the former vice president to jettison his presidential ambition.

The protesters were former support groups for Atiku’s presidential bid in 2019, who said he should shelve the ambition for the South-East region to emerge as Nigeria’s president come 2023.

In a statement jointly signed by the national coordinator and national secretary, North 4 North Support Group for Atiku, Mohammed Garba, and Abubakar Sanni, respectively and read during the protest in Kaduna, it pointed out that the former VP should have a rethink of his ambition.

The statement reads in part, “We for our part, have promoted the candidature of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar for years, but we humbly call on the former vice president to do us a good turn in return for the many good turns we have done for him. We have sacrificed a lot pushing for the presidency of Atiku Abubakar all these years, even though we have been abandoned by him after each election cycle, it is time for him to project national interest outside of his need to become president. At almost 80years, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar does not have enough in the tank to put in the high level of physical and mental effort required to fix Nigeria.

“We must give all parts of Nigeria a chance to become president of the country, or we might slide dangerously into the narratives of divisionists enemies of the state who will have a ready recruitment pool from among disgruntled groups.

“Only one region in Nigeria has not been given a chance to take the presidency of Nigeria and it is only fair that 2023 almost a quarter of a century into our current democratic system the south east is reminded that they just as Nigerian as the rest of us.

“Fairness and equity is the major ingredient for sustainability of any society as history has clearly shown and Nigeria can be no exception to this clear and present rule of nation building; when a society begins to deviate from the principle of fairness and equity, it declines and slides down the rabbit hole of oblivion.

“The presidency cannot also afford to go to an older candidate, considering the enormity of the demands of the job in the 21st century, where there are series of factors playing into a tectonic shift in economic centers of gravity, coupled with the many challenges confronting Nigeria that requires a proactive person with energy to cope with the rigors of office.

“It is the unanimous position of Nigerians, as deduced from the sampling of opinions through our consultations on the subject matter thus far, that the presidency should go to a younger candidate in tune with the realities within which we exist in today’s world and capable of making decisions at the pace required there from.”