Former spokesperson to the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, Segun Sowunmi, has insisted that Nigeria’s presidency should remain in the South beyond 2027 to maintain political balance and national unity.
Sowunmi, a PDP chieftain in Ogun State, stated this on Monday in Abeokuta during a Guest Forum organised by the Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Ogun Council.
He said sustaining power in the South would honour the unwritten rotational arrangement that has guided Nigeria’s democracy since 1999.
According to him, Nigeria’s history as a merger of the Northern and Southern Protectorates makes political rotation necessary for harmony and stability.
While expressing respect for Atiku Abubakar, Sowunmi said the former vice president failed to appreciate the political timing required in the current dispensation.
He recalled that the North controlled the presidency for eight years under Muhammadu Buhari, noting that public expectation now favours the South completing another full cycle.
Sowunmi warned that returning power to the North in 2027 could fuel discontent among Southern and Middle Belt citizens who view zoning as a matter of fairness.
“I love Atiku, but he does not understand the concept of seasons and time. Nigeria must operate on a pendulum system. The North has had its turn under Buhari. Now it is the South’s season,” he said.
Nigeria’s informal power rotation system has remained a key stabilising mechanism in the country’s democratic journey.
