Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, SAN, is a Nigerian politician and lawyer who is currently the Governor of Ondo State. He is no doubt one of the outspoken governors we have in Nigeria today.

Starnews Nigeria reports that Akeredolu became a side attraction in Nigeria for spearheading the establishment of Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN) codenamed Amotekun and his prevailing voice that the security outfit has come to stay in the South West without minding whose ox is gored, amid opposition by men of the presidency.

Two days ago, Akeredolu who is the Chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum, again, hit the internet and got Nigerians talking on social media when he insisted that the southern part of the country must produce the next president of the country.

Akeredolu, in a statement on Tuesday, warned the national leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress against giving the presidential ticket to a northern aspirant so as not to put the party in a crisis.

He said, “The current democratic dispensation is anchored on the unwritten convention driven by a principle of equity. Political expediency dictates, more appealingly, that while adhering to the spirit and letters of the laws guiding the conduct of elections and succession to political offices, we must do nothing which is capable of tilting the delicate balance against the established arrangement which guarantees peace and promotes trust.

“Our party just elected officers on the established principle of giving every part of the country an important stake in the political calculus. The focus has now shifted to the process which will culminate in the participation of our party in the general elections scheduled for next year. All lovers of peace and freedom must do everything to eschew tendencies which may predispose them to taking decisions which promote distrust and lead to a crisis, the end of which nobody may be able to predict. The leadership of the party ensured that the principle of rotational representation guided its decision at the just-concluded convention. The party chairmanship position has gone to the North. All other offices have been filled on this understanding. This is the time the leaders of the party must make a categorical statement, devoid of equivocation, on the pattern of succession.

“It is the turn of the Southern part of the country to produce the next President. The party leadership should have no difficulty in making a pronouncement on this very important issue, just as it has fixed various fees for the purchase of forms. This must be done without delay. The principle of Federal Character is enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, as amended. It will be disingenuous for anyone to argue against rotation at this period”, the governor added.

Meanwhile, Governor Akeredolu’s warning may not be unconnected with the strong indications that the All Progressives Congress may field a northern candidate that can compete with the Peoples Democratic Party if the opposition party picks its presidential standard-bearer from the North in 2023.

Of a truth, this newspaper thinks that the governor’s cry for a rotational presidency at this critical period when Nigeria is dangling on the line of disintegration is very necessary to maintain our national unity as a nation.

The indivisibility and indissolubility of Nigeria should be paramount to all the political parties in the country. Starnews Nigeria opines that without the unity of Nigeria as a nation, other contending things that citizens continue to fight for can not be possible.

As it is, the unity of Nigeria is shaking and its future lies in the 2023 presidential election. On this note, Starnews Nigeria hereby re-echos the cry of Governor Akeredolu to the leadership of all the political parties in Nigeria to ensure that the principle of rotational representation influences their decisions in choosing presidential flag bearers ahead of the general elections.

We join Governor Akeredolu in this cry, not because of anything but rather of the fear of disintegration.

May God bless Nigeria and uphold her unity!

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