A former Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Alhaji Idi Farouk, has called for the abandonment of the idea of power rotation between the North and South of Nigeria, describing it as undemocratic.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja, Farouk responded to calls from some quarters advocating for the return of the presidency to the North in 2027.
He argued that the decision of where a presidential candidate should emerge from should be determined by the political party, not based on geographical rotation.
“I am not an advocate of any particular place where the president should come from, whether the North or South. I have never believed in it.
The choice of a presidential candidate is strictly the discretion of the party based on its election-winning strategies,” Farouk said.
His comments came in the wake of a recent move by the House of Representatives to reject a bill seeking to amend the 1999 Constitution to introduce a six-year single term for the president, governors, and local chairmen.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Ikenga Ugochinyere (PDP-Imo), also proposed the rotation of the presidency between the North and South.
While the bill was rejected, the 34 lawmakers behind it have vowed to reintroduce the proposal.
Farouk, however, insisted that the idea of power rotation is only viable in a one-party system, not in a multi-party democracy like Nigeria, where 18 political parties exist.
“If we were a one-party state, yes, this could work. But we have 18 parties, and each one is trying to win elections based on their own strength, not because of where the candidate is from,” he stated.
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He further noted that the notion of power rotation was introduced by the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) after the tenure of former President Shehu Shagari, but he argued that such decisions should remain within the party, based on its election strategies and not influenced by external political or regional considerations.
Referring to President Bola Tinubu’s victory in the 2023 presidential election, Farouk said that Tinubu’s success was not due to his southern origin but because he was widely accepted by the majority of Nigerians. “If he had campaigned on the platform of ‘I am a southerner, vote for me,’ he would have lost.
Most of his votes came from the North, where there were also prominent northern candidates,” he pointed out.
Farouk concluded by rejecting the idea of power rotation, labeling it as political rhetoric that does not serve the best interests of the nation.
He emphasized that Nigeria’s democratic process should be focused on the merits and capabilities of candidates rather than their regional background.
CREDITS : NAN