Atiku Supported Rotational Presidency After June 12 Annulment – Akume

The Federal Government has said that the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, was among political leaders who supported the adoption of rotational presidency in Nigeria following the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.

Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, disclosed this on Tuesday during a World Press Conference in Abuja as part of activities marking Nigeria’s 27th Democracy Day anniversary.

Akume described the decision to adopt rotational presidency as a difficult but necessary step aimed at preserving national unity in the aftermath of the June 12 crisis.

According to a statement issued by his Media and Publicity Adviser, Yomi Odunuga, the SGF recalled that leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) met in Kaduna under the leadership of the late Chief Solomon Lar and Alhaji Adamu Ciroma to deliberate on the country’s political future after the annulment of the election.

He said the issue of power rotation and the party’s presidential ticket featured prominently during the discussions.

“It was a tough argument before the issue of rotational presidency was agreed on. At the end, we had to concede. We must do this. June 12 annulment had complicated the whole thing,” Akume said.

He added that the meeting eventually resolved that political power should rotate between the North and the South in the interest of fairness and national cohesion.

“It was finally agreed that we’ll be alternating between North and South. Atiku was one of the leaders at that meeting, which was convened by Chief Solomon Lar. He was part of that agreement,” the SGF stated.