Former Kaduna Central Shehu Sani has warned that an Atiku Abubakar victory in the 2027 presidential election would end Nigeria’s informal rotational presidency arrangement and could trigger resentment in the southern part of the country.
Mr Sani made the comment on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday.
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He said political parties should field southern candidates in the 2027 presidential election and allow the North to take its turn in 2031.
“If Atiku wins, it means that is the end of rotational presidency in Nigeria, and there is going to be hard and bitter feelings from the southern part of Nigeria,” Mr Sani said.
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He said allowing the South to complete an eight-year presidential cycle would make it easier for a northern candidate to take over in 2031.
“I don’t think anyone will like to preside over a country full of hate, animosity, and conflict. Right now, the political system is managing a lot of crises,” he said.
Atiku, a former vice president, is a northerner and the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
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Mr Sani acknowledged that the Constitution does not bar him from contesting the 2027 election.
“I never said Atiku should not run. Constitutionally, he has a right to run for any election, but what I said was that a southern part of Nigeria should be allowed to have its eight-year tenure in office, just like the way the North has from 2015 to 2023,” he said.
‘South should have its eight years’
Mr Sani argued that although zoning and rotational presidency are not constitutional requirements, they remain important political arrangements for maintaining a sense of fairness between the two regions.
“I think it’s going to be fair to this country, to our political system, that when the South has its eight years, the North will have its eight years,” he said.
He said the North would have an “unchallengeable opportunity” to produce the country’s president in 2031 if southern candidates were allowed to contest the 2027 election.
“The NDC should field Peter Obi, the APM should field Makinde, let the South struggle it out and see who wins for four years. And when the tenure is done by 2031, the North should have its unchallengeable opportunity to produce the leadership of the country,” Mr Sani said.
He was referring to Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) and Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), both southerners and presidential candidates in the 2027 election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission has listed Mr Obi, Mr Makinde, Mr Atiku and President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress among the candidates for the 16 January 2027 presidential election.
Mr Sani also rejected the argument that demographic or electoral strength should determine which region controls the presidency.
“You cannot say that because you have the largest electorate and population, so you should continue dominating politics,” he said.
Rotation not constitutional
Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution does not provide for a North-South rotation of the presidency. The arrangement has instead operated as an informal political convention through party zoning and negotiations.
Mr Sani’s position therefore differs from the strictly constitutional argument that any Nigerian who meets the constitutional requirements is entitled to seek the presidency regardless of region.
READ ALSO: El-Rufai paying for misdeeds while in power – Shehu Sani
He said, however, that constitutional eligibility should not be the only consideration in determining the timing of political contests.
His comments come amid growing positioning by major political figures ahead of the 2027 election, with Messrs Tinubu, Atiku, Obi, Makinde and other candidates already on INEC’s final list.
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