According to a report by Leadership, on Tuesday May 12, 2026, former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, has accused some political actors of being inconsistent in their stance on the zoning of the presidency, stating that many of those who are now strongly defending rotational presidency did not respect the same principle in the past.
He pointed specifically to events in 2011 after the death of former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, he said that during that period, several politicians supported the emergence of a southern president in the person of Goodluck Jonathan, even though there was an informal understanding that power was expected to shift to the North.
According to him, this decision went against the zoning arrangement that is now being defended by the same group of people, he described their current position as contradictory and lacking consistency.
Atiku stated that it is wrong for those who previously ignored rotational agreements to now present themselves as the strongest advocates of the same principle, he argued that this selective approach raises questions about fairness and sincerity in the debate.
He added that political principles should be applied evenly and not adjusted based on convenience or advantage, in his view, the credibility of the zoning argument is weakened when it is used differently depending on political interest.
The statement suggested that the ongoing debate over power rotation is being shaped more by political calculations than by a consistent commitment to fairness among Nigeria’s regions.
“It is intellectually dishonest for those who enthusiastically supported a Southern presidency under Goodluck Jonathan in 2011, despite the North’s legitimate turn under the informal zoning arrangement, to now suddenly posture as custodians of zoning justice,” the statement added.
