The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, has cautioned Northern politicians seeking the presidency in 2027 against violating the existing North-South power rotation arrangement, insisting that the South must be allowed to complete its eight-year tenure in the interest of fairness, equity and national stability.
Akume maintained that the political understanding reached by the two regions’ leaders in 1999 remained sacrosanct, warning that attempts to undermine the arrangement could erode the mutual trust and political balance that have sustained Nigeria’s democracy since the return to civilian rule.
The SGF, who spoke on Wednesday in Abuja while receiving a delegation of the Order of the Knights of St. Mulumba (KSM), Nigeria, led by its Supreme Knight, Sir Steve Adehi, insisted that Northern presidential aspirants must respect the established sequence of power rotation rather than seek to truncate the South’s current turn.
According to him, after eight years under former President Muhammadu Buhari, the North should show political sincerity and commitment to national cohesion by allowing the South to complete its eight-year cycle under the existing arrangement.
His position reinforces his earlier call for the political class to respect the power-sharing understanding ahead of the 2027 presidential election, in which President Bola Tinubu is expected to seek a second term.
A statement issued by the Head of Information and Public Relations in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chris Ugwuegbulam, said Akume traced the arrangement to a political agreement reached in Kaduna in 1999, following extensive consultations among governors-elect of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other prominent political leaders.
The SGF recalled that the discussions were informed by concerns about the concentration of political power in one section of the country and growing dissatisfaction among political stakeholders who believed a deliberate mechanism was necessary to ensure fairness and inclusion.
He explained that the leaders eventually agreed that presidential power should alternate between the North and the South in eight-year cycles, beginning with the South, as a practical means of promoting political balance and strengthening mutual confidence among the country’s diverse groups.
Akume maintained that the agreement was not merely a convenient political arrangement but a fundamental understanding designed to preserve Nigeria’s territorial integrity, deepen democratic governance and prevent any region from feeling permanently excluded from the highest political office.
