Nigerian Presidency to Rotate among Geo-political Zones among North, South

Members on the floor of the national conference

July 3, 2014 – Delegates at the National Conference have resolved that the Presidency would henceforth rotate among the geopolitical zones among the North and South

It was also agreed that the office of the state governors shall be rotated among the three senatorial districts of each state while that of the local government chairmen shall also be rotated within the local government areas.

Where the President dies in office, is incapacitated, impeached or where he resigns, Conference agreed that the Vice President shall operate in acting capacity for a period of 90 days during which an election to the same office would be conducted.

This decision was taken because each zone is expected to run the full course of the constitutionally allowed tenure without undue disruption; and it was also agreed that based on the adopted zoning formula, when a president leaves under any of the circumstances stated above, another president would be elected from the same zone where the previous one came from.

Conference also voted in favour of Modified Presidential of Government as recommended by the Committee; described as home-made model of government that combines the attributes of Parliamentary and Presidential systems.

The concept is believed to have the potentials of entrenching the principle of Separation of Powers as practiced in presidential system and promotion of co-operation and harmony between executive and the legislature as operated under the parliamentary system.

The President elected under the new system shall exercise full responsibility for his government and shall select ministers, not more than 18 of them, from the six geo-political zones of the country.

It was agreed that henceforth, the Minister of Finance and no longer the President as presently obtained, would present the annual budget to the National Assembly.

Under the new arrangement, both the President and the ministers would be expected to appear before the National Assembly to render account of their stewardship on quarterly basis.

Also, local government councils not democratically elected shall not be recognized by all authorities and persons and would not be entitled to any revenue allocation from the Federation Account or the Account of the State Government or exercise any function exercisable by local government councils.

These recommendations were based on report of the Committee on Political Restructuring and Forms of Government which attracted intensive debates and lots of amendments.
The Committee was mandated to primarily to examine the extant structure and forms of governments in the context of the peculiar circumstances of Nigeria’s diverse and multi -ethnic setting.

It was also expected to examine Nigeria’s attendant challenges and the need to lay a solid foundation for an all-inclusive and cost-effective system of government which would serve the best interest of Nigeria and Nigerians.