Rotational presidency’ll promote equity, justice – Ohuabunwa

Former chairman, National Economic Summit Group (NESG), Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, has said the proposed power rotation among the six geopolitical zones would promote equity and justice.

According to him, if the proposal gets constitutional backing, it would deepen the country’s democracy and address claims of political marginalisation.

A bill seeking the rotation of the president and state governors was presented on June 11 by 35 members of the House of Representatives.

The legislators, under the auspices of Reformed-Minded Legislators, said the proposition would lead to a reduction in the cost of governance.

The bill also canvasses rotation of the presidency among the six geo-political zones of the country.

Mexico is one of the few countries in the world operating a six-year single tenure presidency .

Ohuabunwa said the antagonists of power rotation wanted Nigerians to forget the federal character principle in the constitution, which requires fair and equitable representation of different ethnic and regional groups in government.

“For whatever it is worth, and for the sake of inclusiveness and sense of belonging, each of the six zones should have the experience of presidential power.

“The rotation of power is more or less a gentleman’s agreement, which is already more or less in practice since democracy was returned to the country in 1999.

“The South-West had it through Olusegun Obasanjo, the South-South had it through Goodluck Jonathan., the North-West had it through  Muhammadu Buhari.

“The last time (2023) the South East thought it would be their turn but it was denied as power went back to the South West.

“It is a painful reality that the agreement changed and that political leaders did not keep to it. It is in the South West now and it is believed that it will probably go back to the north in 2027 if the rotational presidency is not included in the constitution.”

Ohuabunwa, former chairman of the Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (MAN), urged that rotational presidency be included in the constitution before 2027 to address the unrest and agitations for power in some parts of the country.

Speaking on money politics, he said it was unfortunate that Nigerians put money above competence and integrity when  choosing leaders .

He said money politics was destroying the country’s democracy by throwing up bad leaders.

In a separate interview, former Director General of the Labour Party (LP) Presidential Campaign Council, Dr. Doyin Okupe, said the proposed single tenure rotational presidency was a great idea for a  developing country like Nigeria, but should not be approached hastily.

The former national publicity secretary of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC) said so many things were wrong with the 1999 Constitution despite the amendments it had undergone.

“I don’t think we should do this kind of reform (constitutional amendment) in a haphazard manner. There is so much that is wrong with the constitution we are operating.

“There is so much confusion and contradiction in the 1999 Constitution as prescribed and handed over to us by the military.

“I would rather want us to have a holistic approach to this reform or amendment.

“The six year single tenure for the president and governors is okay in a developing nation like this, and I have no objection to it.

“Yes, it is good; we can have a six years single tenure rotational presidency. However, the  rotational part should be clearly stated in the constitution among the six zones,” Okupe said.

He said the National Assembly should not just review the tenure alone, but must go ahead and do so many other reforms, especially in the electoral system.

According to him, there is also confusion about whether Nigeria is running a federal system or unitary system.

He added that if the nation must have the reform, the presidential system of government must be jettisoned for the parliamentary system, where a prime minister would be elected by his colleagues from the parliament.

“The prime minister will run the country under the supervision of the elected president. The role of the president will be limited and very clear.

“And if the people are not satisfied with the prime minister, they can go to the parliament to remove him and put someone else.

“This is a country of over 200 million people, a lot of destinies are involved, there is no need for us to keep patching and patching it. If the constitution is not okay, let us attend to it properly,” he said.

At the 2014 National Conference, Okupe said the recommendations of the confab organised by former president, Goodluck Jonathan, would have delivered an acceptable constitution, if implemented.

“Everybody agreed and everybody consented. Why don’t we bring that up to have something that is reasonable. We just add other issues like this single term rotational presidency.

“And if we are going to do it, the time for it is now. We need to get things corrected once and for all.

“We are where we are because we are just satisfied managing the same constitution that has not helped us,” he said.