The G15 comprises Babangida, Atiku, Aliyu Mohammed, M.D. Yusuf, Adamu Ciroma, Bello Kirfi, David Jemibewon, and Iyorchia Ayu.
Shettima Mustafa, Lawal Kaita, Hamza Abdullahi, Magaji Dambatta, and Patrick Adaba are also members.
Their meeting will review the decision by the majority of Northern Governors to support the zoning arrangement in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
It will also review the resolutions of the Northern Leaders Forum (NLF), the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), and the Northern Union (NU).
The G15 wants to respond collectively to individual overtures they have been getting from the campaigners for President Goodluck Jonathan.
Meanwhile, Atiku’s Media Spokesperson, Garba Shehu, said his principal will declare his Presidential run at a press conference in Abuja next week.
Just in time, Niger State Governor, Babangida Aliyu, disclosed at the weekend that any attempt to frustrate Babangida out of the PDP will be resisted.
He also argued that “nobody should be intimidated because no one has come up to discuss issues about the zoning or how we can get out of it for us to move forward.”
Aliyu bared his mind at a rally to mark his victory at the Supreme Court in Abuja, where he expressed the resolve of the government and people of Niger State to support the Presidential race of Babangida.
He said the decision is based on the zoning in the PDP, which should enable the North have its own fair share of the Presidency for eight years, beginning from 2007, after the Olusegun Obasanjo tenure from 1999 to 2007.
“We are supporting IBB because he is our son, and since he is looking for the 2011 Presidential ticket under the PDP, we have no choice but to support him in actualising his ambition.”
Aliyu explained, however, that he is not against Jonathan contesting alongside Babangida on the platform of another party.
“Whoever is the choice of God will eventually emerge winner, no matter the pressure from other candidates from the North and from other political parties. We will ensure that the PDP has enough supporters to emerge victorious in 2011.
“The PDP arrangement on zoning should be respected. If for any reason it was discovered that the concept is no longer workable, all we need to do is to sit round the table and review our earlier stand and move on so that nobody will be offended.
“The PDP constitution provides for eight years for the Presidency of Northern extraction and the same for a Southern candidate. The death of President Umaru Yar’Adua scuttled that plan, so all the PDP need do is to come back and discuss on how we can move on.”
Aliyu said since zoning is a PDP affair, and now that it is generating confusion, it is left for the party to discuss how to resolve it, so that everyone can move forward.
All the party needs to do is to remain united and focused towards retaining its mandate of providing quality leadership for Nigerians at state and federal levels, he added.
Niger State PDP Chairman, Mahmud Enegi, has also disclosed that the state will abide by the constitution of the party on zoning, irrespective of the decision of the national PDP.
Enagi maintained that zoning has over the years helped to create balance and political stability in Niger State, where it will continue to form the basis of voting.
Nonetheless, Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State at the weekend maintained the stand of the South East Governors Forum that none of them will vie for President or Vice President next year, saying they have more pressing matters to deal with.
He told a phone-in radio programme in Awka that the position of South East Governors does not prevent others from the region from contesting for the Villa.
His words: “South Easterners are free to contest, only that the Governors agreed among themselves that they will not contest for the Presidency or make themselves available as Vice President.
“The Governors realised that they have more critical jobs now trying to unite the people of the zone. Without unity first the efforts at the Presidency would not achieve much.”
He noted that back in 2007, all South East Governors wanted to become President and the effort ended in futility.
He said at the time, governance was grounded and the zone suffered for it.
“We cannot encourage our people to spend money unnecessarily on a project they are not adequately prepared for. It will not only portray us as insensitive to the actual needs of the zone, it will make us lose focus.”
Obi reiterated that the Governors will support any Presidential candidate with the best programme for the South East.
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