A sociopolitical organisation, FOCUS 2023, has faulted recent statement credited to some prominent northerners that the gentleman agreement on the rotational president was no longer tenable.
Prof. Ango Abdullahi, chairman of Northern Elders Forum, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai and Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State had suggested that the deal of 1999 to rotate the position of the president between the South and the North had outlived its usefulness and should be discarded.
In a statement by tProtem Chairman, Alhaji Ore Salako, the group frowned at the comments of the notable northern leaders. “While the principle of rotation is not a constitutional matter, it was introduced into our political arrangement to give each part of the country a sense of belonging following the annulment of the June 12 1992 general elections. The rotational principle has become one of the ethos on which our democratic experience is anchored and has significantly reduced the suspicion of domination of one part of the country over the other. This in turn is promoting trust, nationalistic ideals and all inclusive party politics”
The Group affirmed that the principle of rotation should not be abandoned in pursuit of selfish agenda, but retained by all political parties in the best interest of the country.
“FOCUS 2023 expressed it determination to work with like-minded progressives and patriots across the country to ensure that the next president emerges from Southern Nigeria,” it said.