Former senator Sani urges preserving presidential rotation — Premium Times Nigeria

In Nigeria, former Kaduna Central senator Shehu Sani has urged political parties to nominate candidates from the South in the 2027 presidential election so that the region can complete an eight-year presidential cycle. He said that a victory by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who represents the North, could end the informal practice of rotating the presidency between the country’s North and South.

Sani said this on the Politics Today programme on Channels Television, Premium Times Nigeria reports. According to him, Atiku’s victory could cause strong discontent in southern Nigeria.

An eight-year cycle for the South

Sani stressed that he does not dispute Atiku’s constitutional right to run. At the same time, he believes the South should be allowed to complete eight years in the presidency, just as the North had its period from 2015 to 2023.

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According to Sani, under such a scenario, representatives of the North would have an “undisputed opportunity” to win the presidency in 2031. He also said that the demographic or electoral advantage of a particular region should not be grounds for its prolonged dominance in politics.

Candidates in the 2027 election

Atiku, Nigeria’s former vice president, is a presidential candidate for the African Democratic Congress (ADC). Sani also mentioned Peter Obi of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) and Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) as candidates from the South.

Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission has included Obi, Makinde, Atiku and incumbent President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress on the list of candidates for the presidential election scheduled for 16 January 2027. Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution does not establish mandatory rotation of the presidency between regions, but this practice operates through party zoning and political arrangements.