By Harry Awurumibe, Editor Abuja Bureau
A legal luminary, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, (SAN), has punctured the argument of the Northern Governors’ Forum (NGF) that there will not be power-shift to the Southern part of Nigeria because it is not constitutional.
The fiery lawyer who spoke Tuesday, while featuring on CHANNELS TV’s Sunrise Daily, has instead posited that Rotational Presidency is enshrined in the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, adding that the framers of the Constitution deliberately stated that political positions should be rotated for the sake of national cohesion.
According to him: “Section 14 sub-section 3 of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria supports rotational Presidency for national unity, cohesion and fairness. The Principle of North and South to take their turns at the Presidency is solely to give every section of the country a sense of belonging if the Mantra of “One Nigeria” is to be taken serious”.
Adegboruwa also said that Section 15 Sub-section 3 of the Constitution specifically stated that National Integration should be encouraged in all facets of the national lives hence it is incumbent on the operators of the Nigerian Constitution to obey the dictates of the country’s Constitution.
Said he: “It will be insensitive for the Northern Governors’ Forum to insist on power remaining in the Northern region after President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight years in power. I want the Northern Governors to go back in history, they will discover that the founding fathers have done things in equitable manner.
“Even in the recent times, there have been a gentleman agreement which is enshrined in the Constitution of the major political parties in Nigeria to rotate key political positions in their parties. By adopting this formula, Northern and Southern parts of Nigeria have been taking turn to produce the Presidents so why stop now”, Adegboruwa queries.
The Human rights activist therefore called on Nigerian politicians from both sides of the divide to close ranks to give the country good governance rather than embarking on divisive politics which will further bring hardship to the citizens.
Prompt News recalls that the Northern Governors and Traditional Rulers met in Kaduna state on Monday and after their deliberations countered the Southern Governors’ Forum’s demand on the zoning of the 2023 Presidency to their geo-political region, saying that power-shift is not in the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria.
