Atiku Advocates for Six-Year Single-Term Rotational Presidency in Nigeria

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has proposed a six-year single-term rotational presidency to promote equity and unity in Nigeria. Discover his vision for a more balanced political structure.

Atiku Abubakar, the former Vice President of Nigeria, has suggested implementing a single six-year term for the presidency that alternates between the southern and northern regions of the country.

In a letter addressed to Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau, who serves as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review, Atiku requested that his proposal be taken into account during the National Assembly’s ongoing constitutional amendment process.

The letter, dated August 29, 2024 and made public this week, was signed by Atiku, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate for 2023.

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The ex-Vice President proposed adding paragraph ‘a’ to Section 130 (1) of the 1999 Constitution, stating: “The Presidency should rotate among the six geopolitical zones of the Federation with each term lasting six years. This rotation will alternate between northern and southern regions for a single term of six years respectively.”

He also proposed an amendment to Section 135 (2) to state: “In accordance with subsection 1, the President shall leave office after completing a six-year term starting from the date of their election.”

Over the past 30 years, Abubakar has launched six presidential campaigns. In the 2023 election, he received a total of 6,984,520 votes. However, former Lagos governor Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) secured victory with 8,794,726 votes. Consequently, Tinubu was declared the winner and assumed office as President on May 29th that year.