Wole Adedeji, Ilorin
The idea of a rotational Presidency in the present Nigerian political dispensation is not a bad idea, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Kwara State, Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo, has said.
Oyedepo, who belongs to the left wing in the state’s chapter of APC, said that the rotational arrangement must, however, be such that Presidency would be rotated among the six geo-political zones in the country.
The politician who was a one-time chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before leading his supporters to join APC to protest sudden defection of Sen. Bukola Saraki to the PDP in the build up to 2019 general elections made this assertion, in Ilorin, Kwara State.
He said this while featuring on a weekly talk programme known as ‘Political Dialogue’ organised by Nations Leadership Institute (NLI) where he is the President for over 50 young people drawn from the 16 local government councils in the state.
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A paper titled “Politics As A Danger to Democracy” delivered by a veteran journalist and media consultant, Malam Tunde Mohammed, was delivered at the event.
According to Akogun Oyedepo, “rotational presidency is good; it must go with equity and justice” adding however that he was surprised when he heard that Northern Governors and Elders said rotational presidency was undemocratic.
The politician asked, “Why are they now saying that zoning is undemocratic? Were they not here when the whole thing started? Why is it today they are now saying it is not democratic?”
Oyedepo, who is also a lawyer, said the stand of the Northern elders would no doubt anger people in the southern part of the country angry even at this time that tension appeared to mount up in the journey to 2023.
“In a plural society like Nigeria, there must be tolerance, if you base everything on population as perceived, it will not work.
“A small fraction of people in a polity can cause problem for the country,” he added.
He was of the view that others should be allowed to enjoy the arrangement put in place since the advent of the current democratic dispensation.
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Oyedepo, also the current chairman of Governing Council of the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, in Ekiti State, lamented that the present political arrangement did not fully allow separation of power.
According to him, for democracy to really thrive in the country, separation of power should be fully entrenched saying; “There is no separation of power here because the legislative arm of governance has been pocketed. No financial independence.
“Until all the tiers of government are financially independence,
separation of power would be a mirage. In a good democracy, there should be separation of power; check and balance,” Oyedepo said.
Earlier in his lecture, the Guest Lecturer, Malam Tunde Mohammed, said politics and democracy were inseparable, adding “there can be no democracy without politics”.
Mohammed noted that the single can effectively thing that can enable democracy to thrive was also the same thing that undermines it.
