A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, has weighed in on the controversial zoning issue as southern and northern governors tussle over which region should produce the president in the upcoming 2023 presidential election.
Recently, the Southern Governors’ Forum had resolved that the next president should be zoned to the South. However, the Northern Governors’ Forum rejected the resolution, saying zoning is not a provision made available in the constitution.
Reacting on the zoning debacle, Adegboruwa stated that the constitution of Nigeria including the constitution of the two leading political parties in the country made provision for power rotation.
The legal expert explained that section 14 of the 1999 constitution of Nigeria does not allow for dominance of a section or tribe, adding that the section made provision for inclusion of all groups in terms of power rotation.
Adegboruwa made this position known while speaking during an interview session with Arise TV, monitored by The New Diplomat.
Speaking further, Adegboruwa noted that the issues of power rotation is essential in other to bring a sense of cohesion, togetherness and belonging, adding that the southern governors are legally right to demand that the next president of the country should emerge from their region.
In his words, “So, I refer to Section 14 of the Constitution of Nigeria which says that there must be a balancing act, in terms of sharing of power and positions in government in order to achieve national cohesion, togetherness. It is also stated in 2023 of the same constitution that all political parties must frame their constitution in such a way that public offices must be shared with regards to federal character.
“So, in that regard, when you want to rotate power, you ensure that the constitution is respected by not allowing a sectional dominace, by not allowing a particular group or tribe to have a greater share than other groups. Otherwise there’ll be a sense of isolation, discrimination. I believe that constitutionally speaking, the southern Governors are correct to say that it is proper to expect that after eight years of President Muhammadu Buhari, who represents these Six geopolitical zones of the North in terms of power equation is expected that there will be a shift in that equation to the southern zone of the country.
“It is nothing new at all. This has been up for a long time, even during the First Republic when National Party of Nigeria in their own constitution, article 21 talked about national character. That was what made NPN popular in those days. The essential of this particularly, the People’s Democratic Party also inserted zoning in article 7 sub 2 and 3 of its own constitution, specifically stating that elective offices shall be shared by rotational fromula across all zones in the country.
“It is the same thing with the All Progressives Congress in article 7 of its own constitution which talked about achieving national unity, cohesion. So I think that when you look at all these speaking legally, It is expected that there will be a sense of belonging, by all tribes, by all sections of the country, to ensure that this zoning formula gives a sense of participation, a sense of belonging and a sense of equity and fairness.”
Speaking also, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal has said that issue of zoning is not enshrined in the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s constitution.
In his words, “There was no provision of zoning in the APC’s constitution. Even the subsequent amendment of the constitution didn’t consider this.”
However, he noted that he wants the South to produce the next president of the country. Specifically, he stated his assessment of the situation in the party has made him opt for a candidate from Southwest.
He explained that his decision was informed by the impact Southwest region played in the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.
In his words, “My own personal inclination is that we should have the next president come from the south. Not because of this issue of zoning but because my understanding of my own assessment of those who had indicated interest or their body language indicated that they might want to be president showed to me that my preferred candidate will be from the south. Not because there is no zoning arrangements but because I’ve seen that the competent candidate I would have loved to be president is in the south.
“My own preference.. will be from the Southwest because I keep on saying that without southwest coming into the merger Buhari wouldn’t have been president,” he added.
