2023: PDP Chieftain Showunmi Says Age Should Not Be a Factor in Electing Next President
- PDP chieftain Segun Showunmi has said age should not be a factor in electing Nigeria's next president
- Showunmi made the declaration following concerns over the advanced age of some frontline aspirants ahead of the 2023 polls
- The Ogun state born politician said those aspiring to be president should be tasked on their scorecards and not based on their age
FCT, Abuja - A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun state, Segun Showunmi, has dismissed proponents of “younger candidacy” ahead of the 2023 general elections.
Showunmi, who was spokesman to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the PDP presidential candidate in 2019, expressed concern over “fixation on age” as the only parametre, especially to the high office of the presidency.
Source: Facebook
The PDP chieftain, in a statement, posted on his Facebook page said:
“I have listened and watched with nauseating amusement, the fixation on age as the only parameter, especially to the high office of the presidency, under some silly assumption that the presidency of Nigeria is a stone quarry where the occupant is expected to use Stone Age Tools to chip mountains into chips for building.
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“Hello friends, get busy come to the table with ideas and snap out of these bully tactics directed at the elderly. No one, and I repeat, no one, is stopping anybody from aspiring for any office of their liking. We do not have an age ceiling on eligibility to contest.
“I have seen wet trees die while the dry ones live much longer, the mortality experience of humans does not justify this lazy frenzy. Do the young not die just as much as the elders? Do the infirmities of health not affect all humans? I don’t get it.
“Thankfully each and everyone that is qualified is free to aspire. The reality of what the contest demands will manage the garrulousness of infantile lackeys of the kindergarten wannabes.
“So it is Waziri Atiku Abubakar or Asiwaju Bola Tinubu that these lots are hoping to bully of their ambitions with the screaming and shouting about age.
“Shall we not examine their scorecards on the assignments and opportunities granted them.
“We know those younger leaders that can bring something to the table, and we know the unstable over-ambitious office seekers who are simply deceiving themselves. Time will tell.”
PDP warned against fielding northern presidential candidate in 2023
Meanwhile, the PDP has been warned against fielding a presidential candidate from northern Nigeria in 2023.
A political advocacy group, Reset Nigeria, made the call in a statement issued on Monday, January 14, and sent to Legit.ng.
The group said the PDP risks mass exodus of members and extinction if it fails to field a presidential candidate from southern Nigeria in line with the idea of a rotational presidency between the north and the south.
Governor Udom Emmanuel asked to run for 2023 presidency
In a related development, Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom has been asked to contest the 2023 presidential election in order to replicate his industrialization policy at the national level.
The demand was made by some listeners of the popular Brekete Family Radio Live Talk Show in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The demand by the Nigerians was made after Governor Emmanuel spoke on his achievements in the last six years and on the state of the nation.
Source: Legit.ng
