Former Voice of Nigeria Director-General and APC founding member, Osita Okechukwu, has accused former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of fuelling political tensions through his alleged breach of Nigeria’s power-rotation convention ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Okechukwu said the controversy vindicated zoning advocates, arguing that power rotation remained crucial to managing Nigeria’s diversity and sustaining national unity.
In a statement on Sunday, he urged Northerners to resist what he described as ethno-identity politics driven by individual presidential ambitions.
He cited Sudan’s experience with ethnic rivalry as a warning against rhetoric that could deepen divisions in Nigeria.
Okechukwu argued that the 2027 contest would have been less acrimonious if the African Democratic Congress (ADC) had respected zoning and presented a southern candidate.
He also blamed Atiku’s 2023 presidential bid for divisions within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying the party had yet to recover fully from the zoning controversy.
“Zoning advocates have consistently maintained that presidential power rotation is a vital instrument for managing Nigeria’s diversity,” he said.
He recalled political figures, including Abubakar Rimi, Umaru Shinkafi, Adamu Ciroma, Sola Saraki, Alex Ekwueme and Ogbonnaya Onu, whom he said placed national unity above personal ambitions during the transition to civilian rule in 1999.
Okechukwu also cited the 1999, 2007 and 2019 presidential elections as examples of regional accommodation.
He expressed concern over reports that security personnel had been deployed to protect campaign posters and billboards, warning that such duties could divert resources from tackling kidnapping, armed robbery, farmer-herder violence and insurgency.
He urged Atiku’s supporters and other political stakeholders to stop portraying the 2027 election as a zero-sum contest between the North and South.
Such rhetoric, he warned, could deepen ethnic divisions and threaten Nigeria’s democratic stability.