Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has said he would push for a constitutional amendment to institutionalise rotational presidency if elected in 2027.
Speaking on Wednesday during an appearance on Prime Time, a programme on Arise Television, Abubakar expressed support for zoning, noting that embedding it in the constitution would ensure fairness and stability in the distribution of power.
“If I am president, even if it is the only amendment I can make, I would move towards that,” he said.
He stated that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) remains the only political party with a zoning system formally included 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.
Commenting on the balance of power between regions, Abubakar pointed out that the southern part of the country has held the presidency for a longer period.
“The south has governed for 18 years and the north for 10, so who is in the deficit?” he asked.
He also recalled opposing a proposal for rotational presidency put forward by the late former Vice-President Alex Ekwueme during earlier constitutional discussions.
“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 said.
“Because we controlled about 60 to 70 percent of the delegates, the amendment did not go through.”
Abubakar, however, admitted that 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 enshrining rotational presidency in the constitution remains the most balanced approach to power-sharing in Nigeria.