Former lawmaker representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District, Shehu Sani, has emphasized the need for Northern leaders to address the region's pressing issues, including poverty, insecurity, and underdevelopment.
According to the report by Arise News on Thursday, Shehu Sani said this as he also called on Northern leaders to abandon their alleged plan to remove President Bola Ahmed Tinubu from office in 2027.
Sani pointed to the North's historical dominance in political power, which he said has been misused, leading to widespread poverty, lack of industry, and poor development.
He criticized the failure of past Northern leaders to utilize their power to develop the region, citing bad governance, corruption, and insensitive leadership as contributing factors.
Sani stressed the need for concerted efforts to bring development to the North, particularly in the face of ongoing security challenges such as banditry, kidnappings, and terrorism.
He urged Northern leaders to prioritize the welfare of their people, addressing poverty, insecurity, and development issues rather than seeking to enrich a few individuals.
Additionally, Sani stressed the importance of restructuring, which he said will provide a systemic opportunity for Nigerians to address underdevelopment and enable the North to harness its resources to tackle its problems.
He encouraged the Tinubu administration to pursue restructuring as a means to promote national development and unity.
He said, "Today, the states in the North-West are facing serious problems of banditry, kidnappings, and killings by all sorts of violent groups. In the North-East, the Boko Haram, ISIS and other terrorist groups are still holding sway, despite the fact that only has the North been in power from 2015-2023, but major organs of government were headed by people from that region, and they have not actually used it for development.
"So now I think, the fact that someone from the South has taken over, there appears to be organized attempt for them to resurrect their power base and see how they can return to power."