Atiku Proposes Six-Year Single-Term Rotational Presidency

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has proposed a six-year single-term rotational Presidency between the southern and northern regions of Nigeria.

In a letter to Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau, who is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review, Atiku sought that his proposal be considered in the ongoing constitutional amendment process by the National Assembly.

The letter dated August 29, 2024, but which became public this week was signed by Atiku, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The former Vice President sought that paragraph ‘a’ be added to Section 130 (1) of the 1999 Constitution to read thus: “The office of the President shall rotate among the six geopolitical zones of the Federation on a single term of six years flowing between the North and South on the single term of six years respectively.”

He also sought that Section 135 (2) be amended to read: “Subject to the provisions of subsection 1, the President shall vacate his office at the expiration of a period of six years commencing from the date when he has been elected to such office before.”

Abubakar has run for president six times in the last 30 years. In the 2023 election, he got 6,984,520 votes, behind ex-Lagos governor, Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who scored 8,794,726 votes. Tinubu was declared the winner of the poll and was inaugurated as President on May 29, 2023.