2023 election and politics of rotational presidency

THE debate on the highly contentious issue of rotational presidency has been raging relentlessly among the key political actors across the political spectrum in the country, and as the forthcoming election draws closer, the debate on the thorny issue has become a major campaign issue by the major political parties.

The leaders of the powerful enthno-socio-cultural organisations in the country such as the Afenifere of the Yorubas, the Ohaneze Ndigbo, the Middle Belt Forum, and the Niger-Delta Forum had equally joined in the debate for rotational presidency between the North and South and had always insisted that for Nigeria to survive as one and undividable entity, the cherished principle of equity, justice and fairness must be strictly adhered to in the overall interest of the nation.

  It is pertinent to mention that these great patriots and leaders of the socio-cultural organisations namely: Chief Ayo Adebanjo of Afenifere, the late President-General of Ohaneze Ndigbo an erudite professor and foremost diplomat, George Obiozor of blessed memory, the indefatigable leader of the Niger-Delta Peoples Assembly, Chief Edwin Clark, as well as the Middle Belt Forum, had at various times in the past, demanded for equity, justice and fairness in the rotational presidency between the North and the South.

These acclaimed leaders of the people had obviously become the conscience of the Nigerian nation, even as they had continually insisted that the presidency in the upcoming election must be zoned to the southern part of the country, since the outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari came from the Northern part of the country.

These eminent leaders in their avowed commitment to the principle of equity, justice and fairness went further to maintain that it was the turn of the South East Region to produce the next president to succeed President Buhari and argued that both the South West and South-South Regions had produced the presidency that ruled Nigeria at various times in the past and that it was only logical and in the interest of equity, justice and fairness, that a candidate of Igbo extraction from the South East Region should be elected the next president of the country in the forthcoming election.

  Regrettably, political gladiators across the political divide rather than abiding by the sacred agreement for the rotational presidency between the North and the South were busy championing the illegitimate cause of the so-called ‘Nigerian President’ purely for their selfish interest.

These shameless politicians had outrightly rejected the cherished principle of equity, justice and fairness and seemed to have reneged on the earlier agreement on rotational presidency in the country.

  It is equally regrettable that political gladiators from the Southern part of the country due to their morbid quest or desire for power had deliberately refused to acknowledge the fact that two out of the three geo-political zones in the South had enjoyed the privilege of ruling the country in the past and that it was only the South East Region that had never had the opportunity to occupy the exalted office of the presidency of the country and hence, it is the turn of the zone to produce the next president of the country come 29th May, 2023. It is said that “he who comes to equity must come with clean hands”.

  It is therefore the height of hypocrisy and utterly perfidious for certain loquacious politicians from the South who in their mischievous rhetoric and shameless posturing today are crying wolf and shedding crocodile tears that the South was being denied the right to produce the next president of the country while they themselves had refused to acknowledge the obvious fact that it was actually the turn of the South East Region to occupy the presidency come 2023.

Some of these desperate and self-serving politicians from the South had actively participated in the presidential primaries of their various political parties when they should have withdrawn from the race in favour of the aspirants from the South East Region during their parties’ presidential primaries in the interest of equity, justice and fairness.

The shameless and selfish politicians from across the various political parties ought to have conceded to the aspirants from the South East Region and withdrawn from the primaries as a clear demonstration of good faith and solidarity with the people of South East Region if they had the moral rectitude and sense of justice.

  It is absolutely ridiculous and utterly nauseating that these unpatriotic and self-serving politicians who today are shouting from their roof tops and accusing the leadership of their political parties of betrayal and failure to abide by the agreement of rotational presidency between the North and South, while they themselves had shamelessly refused to acknowledge the fact that it was the turn of Ndigbo of the South East Region to produce the next president of Nigeria.

There is no gainsaying the fact that the current political posturing and crying wolf by these dubious political elites to the fact that the northern oligarchy or ruling class was seriously plotting to retain the presidency in the North and thereby denying the South the opportunity to produce the next president of the country in accordance with the zoning arrangement is neither here nor there and smacks of hypocrisy, gross injustice and height of insensitivity on the part of the conscienceless politicians who ought to have insisted and maintained from the onset during the presidential primaries by the political parties that it was indeed the turn of the South East Region to produce the next president rather than making the process an all comers affair and throwing the race open to the entire country.

  The country is currently facing grave political, economic and social challenges and deliberately denying Ndigbo of the South East Region their due right to produce the next president of Nigeria obviously portends grave danger which would further compound the already tense and extremely precarious situation, as well as the escalating political violence prevalent across the country.

The cherished principle of equity, justice and fairness should therefore be quickly extended to the grossly marginalised Ndigbo in order the douse the heightening tension and uncertainty pervading the South East Zone and Nigeria at large.

The nation is in a dire situation and currently sitting on a keg of gun powder and fast sliding into precipice and as such, everything humanly possible must be done with utmost urgency to save the country from the looming catastrophe, imminent collapse and possible disintegration