Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has said he will push for a constitutional amendment to institutionalise rotational presidency if elected in 2027.
Speaking on Prime Time, a programme on Arise Television, Atiku said he supports zoning, noting that embedding it in the constitution would create a more equitable and stable system of power rotation.
“If I am president, even if it is the only amendment I can make, I would move towards that,” he said.
He added that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) remains the only political party with a zoning arrangement enshrined in its constitution, noting that other parties appear to be drawing from its model.
“The only political party that has zoning in its constitution is the PDP. The rest do not have it. If anything, all the other political parties are borrowing or learning from the PDP,” he said.
Atiku also weighed in on the distribution of presidential power between the north and the south, arguing that the southern region has held office longer.
“The south has governed for 18 years and the north for 10, so who is in the deficit?” he asked.
He recalled that he once opposed a proposal for rotational presidency by the late Alex Ekwueme during constitutional debates.
“There was an argument between the late Alex Ekwueme and myself. He proposed a provision in the constitution for rotational presidency, and I opposed it,” he said.
“Because we controlled about 60 to 70 percent of the delegates, the amendment did not go through.”
However, Atiku said he later regretted that decision.
“In hindsight, when I attended his funeral, I admitted that I made a mistake. I should have supported that amendment, and the presidency would have rotated to all regions of the country,” he said.
He maintained that constitutional rotational presidency remains the most equitable approach to power-sharing in Nigeria.
