By Samuel Amah-Ugbor, Abakaliki
A former President of the Senate, Pius Anyim, has thrown his weight behind rotational presidency, saying the country needed it for continued unity within its territorial boundaries.
This is even as the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, maintained that the clamour for Nigerian president of Igbo extraction was achievable come 2023, stressing that the time was now.
Anyim, who also called for the constitutional backing of the nation’s six geo-political regions, equally supported the devolution of powers in the country, from the centre.
The former SGF stated this while delivering a lecture at the ongoing 6th World Igbo Summit at Gregory University, Uturu, Abia State, on Saturday.
According to him, even though “The zonal structure has not found legal backing, but there is no gainsaying that it has assumed a moral force waiting to be constitutionalised”.
He maintained that the continuous agitation of the South-East was not just for the office of the President, but also for equity and justice.
Anyim emphasised that the tempo for a Nigerian president from the South-East was a moral issue, that needed to be tackled as a way of further galvanising cohesion and unity of the country.
He said, “The other angle to this perspective is whether zoning the presidency to the South-East geo-political zone is a right? Legally, the answer is no, but morally there is a merit in such demand.
“Nigeria as a country must work to take advantage of the opportunity offered by the zoning of the presidency of the country to the various and identified geo-political zones to avert disharmony in the nation’s body polity.
“The Igbos from all works of life must unite and engage other sections of Nigeria to gain their confidence and consensus in support of Igbo presidency.
“Igbo sons and daughters in the National Assembly must engage their colleagues on the road to amending Nigeria’s electoral laws to ensure that the Independent National Electoral Commission makes zoning of the presidency and other political high offices rotational as a prerequisite for the registration of political parties.”
Picture: Pius Anyim
