Rotational presidency key to national unity –Anyim

From Magnus Eze, Enugu

Former President of the Senate, Chief Anyim Pius Anyim, has declared that the agitation for the emergence of Nigeria president of Igbo extraction in 2023 was realisable, stating that the time has come, and the time is now.

He also called for the constitutional recognition of the six geopolitical zones, while pushing for devolution of powers in Nigeria.

The former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) stated these on Friday in a lecture he delivered at the ongoing 6th World Igbo Summit at Gregory University, Uturu, Abia State.

He said even though “the zonal structure has not found legal backing, but there is no gainsaying that it has assumed a moral force waiting to be constitutionalised.”

Anyim reiterated that the continuous agitation of the South East was not just for the office of the president, but also for equity and justice.

He contended that the clamour for a Nigeria president from the South East is indeed a moral issue that must be tackled as a way of further cementing cohesion and unity of the country.

“The other angle to this perspective is whether zoning the presidency to the South-East geo-political zone is a right? Legally, the answer is no, but morally there is a merit in such demand,” he said.

He further said that Nigeria as a country must work to take advantage of the opportunity offered by the zoning of the presidency of the country to the various and identified geopolitical zones to avert disharmony in the nation’s body polity.

In pushing for the office of president, Anyim said that the Igbo from all works of life must unite and engage other sections of Nigeria and gain their confidence and consensus in support of Igbo presidency.

He urged Igbo sons and daughters in the National Assembly to engage their colleagues on the road to amending Nigeria’s electoral laws to ensure that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) made zoning of the presidency and other political high offices rotational as a prerequisite for the registration of political parties.