Simon Lalong, governor of Plateau, says the push for the presidency to shift to the south by northern governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was in order to promote stability.

He said their support wasn’t necessarily for Tinubu to become president but for the presidency to come from the south.

In June 2022, governors from the north asked President Muhammadu Buhari to look toward the southern presidential hopefuls when considering his successor.

The governors asked the northern presidential hopefuls to withdraw from the race. This development eventually led to the emergence of Tinubu as the candidate of the ruling APC in the presidential election.

Speaking at the ninth annual Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Lecture on leadership and good governance in Lafia, Nasarawa state, Lalong, who was the director-general of Tinubu’s presidential campaign organisation, said the governors arrived at that crucial position in order to promote unity, peace and stability of Nigeria.

“When I led my colleagues – the northern governors – to push for power shift to the south, it was not because we wanted Asiwaju to be president. Rather, we wanted to ensure that justice and fairness prevail in our nation for unity, peace and harmony,” he said.

“That is what we believe our revered father of blessed memory, Sir Ahmadu Bello, would do in such circumstances. Fortunately, the party delegates chose Asiwaju who was eventually accepted by Nigerians as he was unanimously elected.”

The governor said the northern region “needs serious attention in vital sectors ranging from security, education, infrastructure, agriculture, economic revival and restoration of law and order in various areas that have been ravaged by insecurity”.

“It is heartening to note that the Northern Governors Forum, under my leadership, has done a great deal of work on bringing our people together as one people with a common destiny.”