Abuja/Kaduna/Kano — Political leaders from Benue State on Wednesday joined what is becoming a bandwagon in endorsing Goodluck Jonathan for President, coming two days after prominent South Southerners did so in Port Harcourt.

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) says it is trying to regain its lost voice in the fight over zoning, but that has not deterred Kano State Governor, Ibrahim Shekarau, from declaring his run for the Villa.

In Abuja, Senate President David Mark and the Benue State Caucus in the National Assembly (NASS) announced their support for Jonathan, even though the man is still keeping his plans close to his chest.

Senator Joseph Akargerger, who spoke on behalf of Benue caucus, said their backing gels with the position of Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State.

Akargerger said Mark is aware of their decision and would have been present at the press conference but he was busy attending to other pressing matters in the NASS.

He narrated that Suswam was mandated to consult the stakeholders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Benue people generally, and "such consultations, were duly held and we have confirmed with our constituents and hereby support the views expressed by (Suswam).

"Any statement to the contrary by any individual or group who certainly do not carry the people's mandate, should be discountenanced as the opinion of the insignificant minority."

On Tuesday in Kaduna, all the 19 Northern Governors resolved that the zoning of political offices is an internal affair of the PDP, which cannot stop Jonathan from running.

The Northern Governors' Forum (NGF) said Jonathan, like any other Nigerian, has the constitutional right to contest, if he so wishes.

The communiqué issued after a meeting of the Northern Governors, read out to reporters by NGF Chairman and Niger State Governor, Babangida Aliyu, explained that their resolution was informed by "the supremacy of the Constitution as encapsulated in Section one (as well as) Section 131 which states the qualification for election into the office of President."

This in Kano on Tuesday night prompted Shekarau to declare his bid for Aso Rock.

He told journalists that "after due consultations with all those that matter, as far as my contacts are concerned across the federation, I have decided to accept the challenge to participate in the democratic process of serving Nigerian citizens at the level of Presidency."

Shekarau constituted his campaign team, headed by the State Director, Societal Re-orientation, Bala Mohammed, with the Governor's Media and Publicity Adviser, Sule Ya'u Sule, as his Deputy.

Back in Kaduna on Wednesday, ACF Chairman, Ibrahim Haruna, said the organisation is not out to "leap into the bounds of a political party domestic affairs or the preserves of the Northern Governors," but added that efforts to resolve the zoning question has not been successful.

He told a meeting of the ACF that whereas it has reached out to chapters, patrons and members through visits and general meetings and has submitted memoranda to governments and commissions, it has yet to receive response from influential personalities to demonstrate a mutual desire to consult or coordinate the search for progress.

"Recent political events have given rise to questioning the role, purpose, and limits of the ACF in the political ferment engendered by the PDP in the post-Olusegun Obasanjo regime and the passing of President Umaru Yar'adua."

ACF Political Committee Chairman, Mohammed Gusau, said the meeting was convened to assist the North in taking a position that will be in the interest of the region and Nigeria as a whole.