The Presidency has berated former Vice President Atiku Abubakar for attempting to disrupt Nigeria’s power rotation arrangement to contest for the presidential seat in 2027.
Atiku, in an interview with Charles Aniagolu of Arise Television on Wednesday, jettisoned the long standing North-South power rotation formula, because according to him, the South has spent more years in office than the North since 1999.
Reacting to Atiku’s position, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said Atiku will never learn.
He recalled that in 2023, as a member of the PDP—a party that, like others, practices zoning—Atiku disregarded the established formula and sought to succeed a fellow northerner, who had spent eight years in office. Noting that his ambition fractured the PDP, leading to his resounding defeat at the polls.
Onanuga, who posted this on his official X handle on Thursday, said Atiku stands poised to repeat history and face another doom. Declaring that another spectacular failure awaits his perennial candidacy in the next election.
He said during the interview session with Charles Aniagolu, Atiku sounded like the presumed ADC candidate, revisiting his 2023 argument on the North-South power rotation.
“In a brazenly self-serving twist, he insisted he is not bound by the rotation formula because, according to him, the South has spent more years in office than the North since 1999. His political arithmetic is dubious,” Onanuga said.
He said the former VP conveniently overlooked the fact that the North’s shorter tenure was due to the untimely death of President Umaru Yar’Adua, which led to President Jonathan’s succession. Noting that this accidental breach does not invalidate the power rotation arrangement between the North and the South.
Onanuga posited that since Buhari completed his eight years, Tinubu too must complete his own. Saying that all Atiku needs to do is to bury the thought of running again, as it is still the South’s turn in the 2027 election.
