2023 AND CLAMOUR FOR POWER SHIFT TO SOUTH

Two decades into the return to democracy, the issues of power rotation is yet to be resolved among the Nigerian political elites. Evidence abounds on the recent meeting held by the Southern governors and the agreement reached on certain policies such as banning of open grazing and power rotation to the south in 2023. The communique released has continued to generate mixed reactions most especially across the geopolitical divides. Before the Southern governors stand, Governors El-Rufai and Ganduje of Kaduna and Kano States have lent their support for power to be shifted to the south in 2023. Notwithstanding, there are others who believe power should be decided based on competence and vehemently opposed to anything zoning. As the 2023 election draws closer, one should expect political parties to sit up and come up with workable formula that will lead them to victory.

Let us go back memory lane. When civil government returned in 1999, both PDP and defunct AD fielded Olusegun Obasanjo and Olu Falae to ensure power was shifted to south. The reason was to calm frayed nerves among the Yoruba who felt they were betrayed by the annulment of 1993 election which produced Mashood Abiola as the winner. Obasanjo who contested the election under PDP finally won and spent two terms in office. The then ruling party (PDP), in a bid to ensure balance of power sharing among the country’s political zones, entrenched zoning formula. The zoning formula of PDP in 2007 favoured the North which produced Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. Halfway into his first tenure however, Yar’Adua fell sick and succumbed to death. Jonathan who was the vice president, as provided for in the constitution, completed the remaining year of Yar’Adua’s tenure. In 2011, after President Jonathan completed Yar’Adua’s term, power should have been rotated to the North. Sadly, President Jonathan violated the zoning agreement of his party and contested. After he enjoyed the North’s four years, Jonathan also vied for the same seat in 2015 which led to the defeat of PDP. From how elections are won and lost in the country, our ruling elites are the architect of this zoning problem. They might agree on some issues and later abandon it for selfish interest.

In a plural country like Nigeria, there is nothing wrong with power rotation. No region has the monopoly of knowledge. Through this political arrangement, every region will be equally represented. Therefore, rotation of presidency is capable of addressing the issues of power domination by certain region or tribes in the country. However, the southern governors are clamouring for power rotation in a wrong way. The North which has the voting population cannot be intimated into supporting the southern presidency as stated by many northern elites. This can be achieved through persuasion, consensus and lobbying. Now every northerner is blaming Buhari for doing little or nothing to address the worsening insecurity and economy of the north and the country at large. The question begging for answer is: will the southern presidency be different from the Buhari’s? The southern governors need to have a re-think and withdraw their terse statement that power “must” return to the South in 2023. They can achieve it through building a block with the northern region.

Ibrahim Mustapha, Pambegua, Kaduna State