If elected, I’ll make rotational presidency a constitutional provision, says Atiku

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar says he will pursue a constitutional amendment to establish rotational presidency if elected president in 2027.

Speaking on Wednesday during an appearance on Prime Time, a programme on Arise Television, Abubakar said he supports the principle of zoning, noting that a constitutional arrangement would provide a more equitable and stable framework for power rotation.

“If I am president, even if it is the only amendment I can make, I would move towards that,” he said.

The former vice-president said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) remains the only political party with zoning arrangement embedded in its constitution.

“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.

He also spoke on the distribution of presidential power between the north and the south, noting that the south has held the office longer.

“The south has governed for 18 years and the north for 10, so who is in the deficit?” he asked.

He recalled opposing a proposal for rotational presidency by the late former Vice-President Alex Ekwueme during past 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,” Abubakar recalled.

“Because we controlled about 60 to 70 percent of the delegates, the amendment did not go through.”

Atiku, however, said he later regretted the 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 added that constitutional rotational presidency remains the most equitable approach to power-sharing in Nigeria.