By King Eze
When Nigeria adopted the so-called North/South power rotation, it was purportedly meant to correct historical injustices, promote national unity, and ensure inclusivity across the diverse geopolitical landscape. Yet, more than two decades later, this gentleman’s agreement has become a political deception tool, one that neither delivers justice nor guarantees equity.
The question is, if the rotation of power was genuinely designed to foster inclusion, then why is it controversial to suggest that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should serve only one term?
By 2027, the South West would have produced a President for a total of 15 years (Obasanjo: 1999-2007; Tinubu: 2023-2027). In contrast, the South East has never fully produced an elected President, only a brief 6-month stint under General Aguiyi Ironsi in 1966. The South-South had just 5 years and a few weeks through President Goodluck Jonathan (2010-2015). Yet today, political elites spin narratives to keep power locked in the same axis while mouthing “equity and fairness.”
Where then is the inclusion? Where is the justice? Where is the brotherhood?
It has no doubt become a question of Constitutional Hypocrisy: some argue, “It is President Tinubu’s constitutional right to seek re-election.”
True. But why then do these same voices suppress or ridicule others’ right to seek office, especially those from historically marginalized zones?
When Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Party emerged as a strong third-force candidate in 2023, he was met with vitriol, propaganda, and disdain by the same power elites who now champion zoning when it suits their political convenience.
This is the Olympic-level hypocrisy of the Nigerian political class, who bend every rule to serve narrow interests and yet parade themselves as defenders of unity and equity.
Brief History of Political “Sacrifices” and Lies
In 1999, following the annulment of the June 12, 1993 elections, and the death of Chief MKO Abiola, the nation, particularly the North, “agreed” to zone the Presidency to the South West. Both leading candidates were Yoruba: Olusegun Obasanjo (PDP) and Olu Falae (AD/APP). That gesture was a symbolic atonement for the injustice done to Abiola, whose pan-Nigerian victory had been annulled by the military regime of General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB).
But, what about Dr. Alex Ekwueme, the distinguished Igbo statesman who sacrificed his ambition for national unity in 1999? Why is the South East repeatedly denied its fair share in this unwritten rotation?
Why is there no national urgency today to ensure the South East produces a President?
Electoral Mathematics: Presidential Leadership Since 1999
South-West: Olusegun Obasanjo (1999-2007); Bola Tinubu (2023-?)12years
North-West: Mohammadu Buhari (2015-2023) 8years
South-South: Goodluck Jonathan (2010-2015) 5years
North-Central: 0
South-East: Aguiyi Ironsi (1966, military) 0.5 months
North-East: 0
If Tinubu completes two terms, the South-West would have ruled 16 out of 32 years since 1999, that’s 50% of Nigeria’s post-1999 civilian era.
Tinubu’s Presidency So Far
As plans have visibly been going on for a second term for Tinubu, the need to critically review his performance so far that warrants a sexond four years for him has become imperative:
– Inflation is at record highs, with food inflation hovering around 40% in mid-2025.
– Fuel subsidy removal has worsened poverty and shrunk the middle class.
– Naira devaluation has pushed more Nigerians below the poverty line.
– Unemployment remains rampant, especially among the youth.
– Nnamdi Kanu remains in detention, fanning regional tension.
– Rivers State, a strategic economic hub, remains in constitutional crisis, effectively under political siege.
– Even in Lagos, Tinubu’s supposed stronghold, the 2023 local government elections saw massive voter suppression, with non-Yoruba residents denied participation.
The question, therefore, is who truly benefits from the unwritten rotation policy?
In 2023, Nigeria elected its first Muslim-Muslim ticket (Tinubu and Shettima) in a deeply divided multi-religious society. Was that a step toward national unity or a calculated power play?
More Questions
If Nigeria is still struggling with religious and ethnic balance in 2025, how can the country still claim that zoning is about inclusion? Again, who truly benefits from the unwritten, unconstitutional rotation?
The Hard Truth
Every election since 1999 has featured both Northern and Southern presidential candidates:
2007: Yar’Adua (North) vs Buhari (North) vs Atiku (North)
2011: Jonathan (South) vs Buhari (North) vs Ribadu (North)
2015: Jonathan vs Buhari
2019: Buhari vs Atiku
2023: Tinubu (SW), Atiku (NE), Obi (SE), Kwankwaso (NW)
From the foregoing, the idea of a rigid rotation is more a fabricated myth than a binding political doctrine, more like a tool of manipulation, used when convenient and discarded when not, by an identified elite.
What Nigeria Really Needs
For Nigeria to truly occupy its natural pride of place in the comity of developed nations, instead of zoning, the national debate should focus on the real structural issues:
– True federalism
– Devolution of powers
– Resource control
– State police and local autonomy
– Accountable governance
– Meritocracy over tribal calculations
Meanwhile, in the short term, if zoning must still be considered, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should serve only one term. Power should move in 2027 to the South-East, North-Central, or North-East, the three zones yet to taste power under this 4th Republic.
Enough Of The Lies
It’s time to stop the gaslighting and the political gymnastics. If zoning is about justice, then let’s act it. If it’s a scam, let’s end it.
Let the political class be either bold or silent. Let the people arise to THINK, let them reject the bandwagonism of handing over the country to a failed elite.
Let Nigerians demand truth, restructuring, and equitable development. For, only then can Nigeria rise, not by deceptive rotational plunge, but by purposeful leadership, responsible federalism, and genuine inclusion.
Zoning is simply a scam meant to always put the elite one thousand steps ahead, while the populace continue to whallow steadily in steadily increasing penury.
