• Kicks against rotational Presidency
By Cosmas Omegoh
Former House of Representative member from Plateau State, Hon Bitrus Kaze, has faulted the bill to introduce rotational presidency, contending that if it is passed into law, it will conflict with the right of the citizens to contest for the Presidency.
Hon Kaze preferred the National Assembly to consider independent candidacy while urging Nigerians to close ranks and work for justice, equity and fair play.
A bill on rotational Presidency in Nigeria was stepped down by the House of Reps, what are your take on it?
I have been an advocate of zoning, inclusiveness and everything that will command national loyalty and promote a sense of belonging among all sections of the country. I have always advocated for that. But I don’t know whether that can best be achieved alone or rather by consensus subject to political party internal mechanisms. I’m looking forward to a day Nigeria will be able to allow for an independent candidature. Where that becomes possible – because while I was in the House, we considered that actually. Where that becomes possible, it will be in conflict actually with the freedom of any citizen for election wherever they come from.
Much as I advocate for zoning, I believe that rotational presidency is better handled by the respective political parties and candidates rather than by the enforcement of the law.
Assuming that law is passed or where a president dies in office, where there is a kind of force majeure leading to a vacancy in the office what happens? What follows? That is my take.
But how would jettisoning the bill accommodate deprived and minority interests?
I‘m from a minority zone; I’m from the Middle Belt. So I’m a minority. So this question speaks to our pains.
But even if we are talking about legalising or making any law that provides for zoning, it will not be for the minority against the majority or Christians against the Muslims, no. It will not be a law that provides for one tribe or the other. It will more than likely be for the North and for the South. And I can say that when it is the turn of the North, there will be more North than northerners.
I also remember that we have less than 50-year-old democracy if you compute our 65 years of independence vis-a-vis the time the military has been in government and the length of time the civilians have been in government. We have far less than 50 years.
Democracy does not happen overnight; it takes time. And so we should be able to allow politicians to learn the ropes and mistakes in democracy. And let the citizenry learn the rope too; democracy takes time. It has to mature. I’m not sure that should be sorted out by any law.
But that‘ll not ensure that every section of the country has a shot at the presidency considering the intrigues/manipulation in the polity?
That is a very good argument. But what matters in politics is numbers. Where the law is tied and ensures you zone to a particular region and another person offends that law and eventually emerges by numbers what happens?
Rotational presidency law will surely be in direct conflict with the rights of citizens to vie for any political office or be voted for. That will be in conflict with that law. That is why I insist that it is best achieved by political parties or by independent candidature.
I wish to recall that we have lots of laws in the country. For instance, we have sufficient traffic laws. But if you live in Abuja, for example, there is no respect for traffic laws at all. My understanding of things in this country is that experience teaches us better than merely the writings and the letters of the law. That is the way I see it.
Are you then comfortable that the presidency rotates majorly between two regions of the country while the rest watch?
How can I be comfortable with that? I’m not sure it is correct to say that the Presidency rotates between two particular ethnic groups, although that is what it seems.
However, it behooves on all others to come together. If the minorities and all those who are being shortchanged come together and they are able to muster the numbers, they will ensure justice, equity and fairness all over the country. You really will not achieve that unity of purpose by any law. It is actually an act of people deliberately coming together and bringing to bear their desire to ensure justice. That works better, not just the law.
Don’t you think if things are not well spelt, it will not promote a better society?
It was in that sense that the Constitution provides for the Federal Character Commission to promote national unity and a sense of belonging among all sections of the country. That gives everybody a sense of belonging to our own country. But you can see that even with the Federal Character Commission, there are some MDAs where the heads have appropriated all the opportunities to their local governments or their tribes.
So what teaches us to do it better is the fact that people should rise and say no by demonstrating that in their voting system, not just the laws. The laws that we have on ground for example, actually provide sufficiently for us to consider one another even in the civil services for example.
But if that has been difficult to achieve, what best suits us is our attitude, our promotion of democratic values and our consideration for justice, equity and fairness across board.
My point is that we will not be best sorted out not by the letters of the law, but by our noble intent for the wellbeing for all sections of our country.
It will not be correct to say, for instance, that the people of the Southwest want the Presidency to rotate between them and those in the North. And it will not be correct that some people from the North want power to rotate between them and the Southwest. There are fair people from the North and there are also fair people from the Southwest who think in all fairness about the welfare of people in other parts of the country. If we are able to muster the numbers, it is better than living the letter of the law.
Asides the Federal Character Commission, do you think the country has been able to promote all-inclusiveness policies?
I don’t think so to be honest with you.
Take for instance, when Buhari was in office, there was one former military governor who accused him of ensuring that over 81 per cent of the appointment in the Nationals Security Council was from the Northwest where he comes from.
But I don’t think that much is reflected in this administration to be fair to President Bola Tinubu, but if that is so, what did members of the Middle Belt do? What did the senators, Southeast and other governors from other parts of the country do? What is their commitment against the kind of bias they saw – against the kind of sectionalism and bigotry especially seen during the Buhari regime?
Sadly everybody loves to clap for whoever that is in power. Many people will give their utmost respect to the regime because of what they think they are going to get out of the system. And no one wants to criticise the system. So we also suffer for it. Yes, the leaders are wrong, but we the citizens have not risen up to the occasion. So the country suffers for it.
If the Presidency rotates between the North and the Southwest, where does that leave the Southeast and the rest of the people?
Let me give an example with myself. I was a staunch supporter of Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election.
I was an Obidient. I trekked from the Secretariat Junction to Bukuru down to Rayfield, matching for Obi even though I belonged to the PDP. I publicly attended rallies for Peter Obi because I felt that doing so would promote justice not just to Igboland, but to the rest of the country.
And who knows, if it is happening to the Igbo and nobody cares, when it will be happening to us perhaps no one will care.
I believe that the country is not fair to the Igbo or any other section of the country that is being shortchanged.
But let’s be honest. Did all the Igbo work with Peter Obi; did they all support him? Did they speak well of Peter Obi? Did they show him good fate when he was contesting for elections – when he was struggling?
To be fair to other sections of the country including – particularly Lagos State that had another presidential candidate but yet still voted Peter Obi. You cannot but commend them for showing national concern.
The indices are there; if Nigerians can work very well, we can naturally outdo evil. We can outdo regionalism, sectionalism and selfishness in this country if we choose to work together.