YOU'VE OVERSTEPPED YOUR BOUNDS, DAVID WEST TELLS ACF

Activist virologist, Prof. Tam David-West, has blasted the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) over its recent comment that all political parties must present northern candidates in 2011. David-West, in a telephone interview with Saturday Sun, said, 'people talk about zoning and they don't go back in history.

If they go back to history, they would know that all these they are saying is hypocrisy. In 1995, when Justice Karibi Whyte was the chairman of the Constitution Review Committee, the South wanted zoning but the North refused it.

'What I am trying to say is that zoning is not Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) affair or Nigerian affair. As far as I am concerned on this position, zoning is a moral duty, a principle.

That PDP must field a northern candidate does not mean any other party should. So, to say that all political parties must field northern candidates, Arewa Consultative Forum is overreaching its mandate. There was no time the whole of South met with the North and said the issue of zoning will be between North and South. It is only a party affair. Arewa Consultative Forum cannot tell every party in the country to field a Northern candidate. If they do, all well and good but it cannot force them to do that.'

On the recent comment by former military Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, that there may be no Nigeria in 2011, David-West said Buhari is right.

'I support him completely. In fact, either those criticizing him are headline readers or they are not telling the truth. They said he is an elder statesman. Who will be more concerned about the country than an elder statesman? So, they have argued against their case.

'An elder statesman is one who has served this nation well and has a wealth of experience behind him. An elder statesman sees not only today but the future and for somebody like General Buhari who has served this nation in different capacities as governor, minister, GOC and Head of State, what he has said is a word of caution for us. He never said Nigeria is finished by 2011. He only said if we don't put our house together by 2011, there may be no more Nigeria and that is true,' he said.