2023: Yerima declares for presidency, says he stepped down for Buhari thrice

A former Governor of Zamfara State, Ahmed Sani Yerima, on Wednesday declared his 2023 presidential bid.

Yerima, who announced his intention to vie for the presidency at a media briefing in Abuja, said he had stepped down on three occasions to enable Buhari to clinch the presidential ticket on the platform of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and All Progressives Congress (APC).

The ex-governor also denied claims that the party leadership had agreed to zone the presidency to the southern part of the country in 2023.

Yerima said: “You see, I don’t think there is anything like agreement. You can ask Mr. President, he led the group, Asiwaju was there, I was part of it, there was no meeting I didn’t attend or any meeting that I attended that there is such agreement.

“(Such an) agreement can’t be verbal; it has to be written. In any case, any agreement that is contrary to the laws of this country is not an agreement. The constitution is very clear, the Constitution of the political parties, the Electoral Act. We are in a democracy and democracy is governed by processes and procedures and by laws.”

He went further to use the United States example to drive home his argument on the purported zoning agreement.

The ex-governor added: “I give you an example of America, George Bush (Snr) was President, George Bush (Jnr) became President. They are from the same family not from the same state, not from the same zone. This is a democracy, if Nigerians decide to vote for Yerima, so be it.”

Yerima, who ruled Zamfara from 1999 to 2007, will be remembered by Nigerians for the controversial introduction of Shariah Law in the North-West state in 2000.

He was elected a senator in 2007 and remained in the upper legislative chamber till 2019.