Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, former Minister of State for Education, says the north would support the bid for a south-east presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) if the south-west hopefuls quit the race.

Nwajiuba, who is one of the presidential hopefuls of the ruling party, said in the interest of national justice and fairness, the south-east should produce the next president of Nigeria.

Recall that the likes of Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, Bola Tinubu, former Lagos governor; and Kayode Fayemi, Governor of Ekiti State, are among the south-west politicians in the race for the ticket of the ruling party.

Nwajiuba told ThisDay that “aspirants from the north” would be willing to “rest their ambitions” if their counterparts from the southwest tow the same path.

“There are three people from the north who purchased the APC presidential forms. The president of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan; the Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello; and the Governor of Jigawa State, Abubakar Mohammed Badaru.

“They all have the right credentials to be Nigeria’s president. They are men of foresight. They are from the northeast, north-central and northwest.

“They are possibly in the contest to make a statement, but if we are talking about national justice and fairness, we should only be thinking of the south-east. This is because it is the only zone in the south that had not produced a president since 1999.”

Meanwhile, the presidential primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is expected to hold on May 29 and 30.