Shettima Usman Yerima, president of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), says the northern region will have to present someone else for the presidency in 2019 because the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has “failed.”
Yerima said the north is unstoppable at the moment, and as such, will need a “vibrant” presidential candidate in the next general election.
In an interview with VANGUARD, the Arewa youth leader said age will be a vital factor in determining the “alternative” to Buhari in 2019.
While stating that “we cannot afford to have a president who is not in charge of the affairs,” he said that many Nigerians have become disappointed in the government of the day.
He said: “The hope has been destroyed.
So, the state of the nation is neither here nor there. The economy is nothing to write home about. A lot of things are not just right. I think this is not what Nigerians bargained for. And so, in essence, a lot of Nigerians are not really happy. Are you saying you are disappointed in this administration?
“Yes. We are disappointed. Nigerians are disappointed. The Buhari administration is a failure. It is a monumental failure because this is not what Nigerians expected when they gave him the mandate in 2015.
“I think we are going to bring an alternative in 2019. We have to bring a new order in the country because we cannot afford to have a president who is not in charge of the affairs. We have nothing against President Buhari personally but we believe somebody of his age should be home to manage his health.
“So, definitely, come 2019, we must look for a way out of this mess. We cannot continue like this. We need a vibrant president and one who has intellectual capacity. We are going to look into age and a lot of other things to be sure that whoever comes up in 2019 will not be part of this old establishment.
“We, northerners, need to put people in the right places with a view to finding answers to our problems. We need to have a smooth transition to 2019 and then 2023. The North is unstoppable for now and we cannot afford to take any chances.”
