Rising from its recent meeting in Lagos, the Southern Governors Forum took a comprehensive review of developments in the country and adopted some resolutions, one of which was that the presidency should be rotated between the South and the North. Specifically, the governors demanded that the next president of the country should emerge from the southern region based on equity and fairness. The demand by the governors is in keeping with the gentleman’s agreement entered into by the two regions at the onset of the current civilian dispensation in 1999.
We commend the governors for their bold stance. Though their resolution is not on the basis of constitutional stipulations, for purposes of equity and justice, we support their argument that the presidency should come to the south at the end of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure. The position of the governors is timely, coming on the heels of surreptitious moves by some individuals and groups from the North to retain power beyond 2023.
Power rotation makes for harmony, especially in a diverse country like Nigeria with pronounced fault lines. It is important for the North to understand that for the nation’s nascent democracy to endure, there is need for power to shift to the south. Nigeria is already polarised along some ethnic and religious divides. Therefore, there is need to ensure that the situation does not degenerate further and harm the peaceful co-existence of the country.
For the sake of equity and to further cement the widening cracks in the country’s polity and calm some frayed nerves, it is imperative for power to shift to the south. However, there is need for dialogue between the political elite from the south and their northern counterparts. The maxim that power is not given but taken, remains instructive at all times. For power to shift to the south, the southern elite must deploy tact and diplomacy in the political game. They should reach out and form alliances with people from other geo-political zones in the country.
The southern politicians should note that power cannot shift to the zone simply for the sake of rotation. Nigeria has already suffered a lot and lost much due to leadership failure. Some of the present tensions in the country are reflections of years of poor leadership and political exclusion. Those angling to take over from the north should therefore be men and women of proven integrity and profound leadership qualities. Competency should not be sacrificed on the altar of power shift.
Going forward, we implore the National Assembly to make rotation a constitutional issue, especially along the lines of the recommendations of Dr. Alex Ekwueme committee at the 1994-1995 Gen. Sani Abacha Constitutional Conference which made case for rotation of the presidency among the six geo-political zones in the country. It envisaged law should clearly state which of the six geo-political zones should produce the presidency at a particular time. The current power rotation arrangement between the north and south is not explicit enough and is not backed by law.
A prescribed power rotation arrangement will lessen the acrimony witnessed during general election in the country. It will also reduce the ‘do-or-die’ syndrome in Nigeria’s politics. With it, contestation for the presidency at any given time will only be within a zone whose turn it is to fill the office. The system will also reduce cost of election and make room for the best candidate to emerge from a particular zone.
While commending the southern governors for their principled demand, we ask that for the sake of transparency and political inclusion, the presidency should specifically go to the South East region in 2023. We say this because the South East remains the only zone in the south that has not had the presidency in the current political dispensation.
The South West has had it with President Olusegun Obasanjo. The South South dod under President Goodluck Jonathan. The North has produced Presidents Umar Yar’Adua and Muhammadu Buhari. None has had the office from the South East. It is only fair that the South East zone is allowed to fill the office in 2023, with all political parties picking their candidates from the zone. Doing so will also assuage the feelings of indigenes of the region who have been marginalised and excluded from key political positions in the land.
Politicians from the South East should however adopt proactive strategies in seeking the office. They need to partner other regions to realise the objective. This is the time for the leaders from the South East to embark on bridge-building with their colleagues in other zones to understand why power should come to their region.