Akume urges North to respect power rotation, backs southern presidency

By Johnson Arua

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, has called on political stakeholders in Northern Nigeria to respect the power rotation arrangement between the North and South, insisting that the principle remains vital to national unity, political stability and democratic growth.

Akume said the understanding, reached in 1999 ahead of the return to democratic rule, was designed to promote fairness, mutual trust and equitable distribution of political power among Nigeria's diverse regions.

The SGF stated this on Wednesday in Abuja when he received a delegation of the Order of the Knights of St. Mulumba (KSM), Nigeria, led by its Supreme Knight, Sir Steve Adehi.

He recalled that the agreement emerged from extensive consultations in Kaduna among governors-elect elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and prominent political leaders who recognised the need for an equitable power-sharing arrangement to preserve the country's unity.

According to Akume, the leaders agreed that presidential power should alternate between the North and South in eight-year cycles, beginning with the South, as a practical means of addressing concerns over political imbalance and ensuring national inclusion.

He explained that the arrangement was introduced against the backdrop of concerns that the concentration of political power in one region could breed dissatisfaction and undermine confidence in the country's democratic process.

The SGF maintained that power rotation had helped sustain democratic governance by providing a framework for managing Nigeria's regional diversity and ensuring that neither the North nor the South felt permanently excluded from the nation's highest political office.

He stressed that the principle should not be treated as a temporary political convenience but as an important understanding founded on fairness, mutual respect and national stability.

Akume also frowned on attempts by Northern presidential aspirants to contest for the presidency before the completion of the South's current eight-year tenure.

He insisted that, following the eight years of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari, the North should respect the established sequence and allow the current Southern presidency to run its full course in keeping with the power rotation principle.

The SGF further urged Nigerians to appreciate the Federal Government's development agenda within the context of immediate economic challenges and the long-term requirements for sustainable national growth.

He emphasised that stronger collaboration among the Federal, state and local governments was necessary to address the country's challenges and improve the welfare of citizens.

Akume commended the Knights of St. Mulumba for their charitable interventions aimed at supporting vulnerable members of society, noting the importance of initiatives that complement government efforts to improve living conditions.

Earlier, the Supreme Knight of the Order, Sir Steve Adehi, disclosed that the organisation had undertaken several humanitarian interventions to support disadvantaged Nigerians.

He listed the initiatives to include providing financial assistance for medical treatment, helping inmates settle outstanding financial obligations to facilitate their release from correctional facilities, providing boreholes, renovating schools and supporting hospitals.

Adehi explained that the interventions were informed by the recognition that government alone could not address the numerous social and economic challenges confronting the country.

He, therefore, called for greater private philanthropy, partnerships and community-based initiatives to complement government programmes, alleviate poverty and improve the living conditions of Nigerians.