Former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday sent a warning that no one should toy with power rotation, federal character and other principles designed to make Nigeria a strong and united nation.
He said that no region or zone in the country should claim to have a monopoly of leaders.
He spoke during an international symposium in Abeokuta to mark his 85th birthday.
Tributes poured in for him on the occasion from President Muhammadu Buhari, governors, All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the President, African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, among others.
Obasanjo’s warning came due to the ongoing debate over the zoning of the presidency ahead of next year’s elections.
While some people say the next president should come from the South, others say there is nothing wrong in another northerner succeeding President Buhari, dismissing power rotation as unconstitutional.
Obasanjo however, said yesterday that federal character, rotation and “such other measures are meant to help our nation-building process and more sure-footedly move Nigeria forward.”
He said, “riding over these measures rudely, shoddily and roughly cannot augur well for our nation-building process and progress.”
“From personal experience and clinical observation, there is no substitute for a steady and uncompromised process of nation-building as we have had in some notable examples in the past that have stood us in good stead.”
