By Musa Baba Adamu
A retired Federal Permanent Secretary in the Political Department of the Office of the Secretary to the Federal Government, Robert Audu, has said that rotating presidency between the zones of the country is a sure way to engender peace, stability and development in Nigeria.
In a statement he issued yesterday, Audu, who was a member of the 2014 Political Conference Organized by the Goodluck Jonathan Administration, said the only thing that can engender stability, growth and development of a country is when all regions are treated equally without discrimination.
“The reason for agitation and tension in the land today is because of nepotism and sentiment with some parts of the Country wanting to dominate and subjugate others”, he lamented.
To this end, he suggested that for the sake of Peace, Stability and the Unity of the Country, the rotational presidency which he said started in 1999, should be maintained and consolidated by the political elites across board.
He stated that having successfully taken the military back to the barracks in 1999 and the former Military head of State, General Olusegun Obasanjo, from the South-West, was sworn in as the President, the rotational circle should be maintained.
Audu, in the statement explained that with the completion of the two terms of Obasanjo between 1999 to 2007, President Umar Yar’Adua, from the North-West, succeeded him in the smooth order, until unfortunately, in his first term, the cold arms of death, took him away.
He submitted that even when the doctrine of necessity was observed and his Vice, former President Goodluck Jonathan, took over, the Country was still enjoying relative peace until 2014 when some political conspirators gathered and disrupted the rotation by not allowing the rotation to move smoothly, and by not allowing another Zone from the North-East, South-East or North Central to continue in that order.
“But sadly in 2014, power was returned back to North-West a development that has today brought imbalance in power rotation and power sharing, therefore leading to tension in the land”, he said, adding that even some advanced countries adhere strictly to the principles of rotation and are enjoying peace and stability in their Countries.
