The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Senator George Akume, has said the North must wait until 2031 to produce Nigeria's next presidential candidate.
He insisted that the current power rotation arrangement gives the South eight years in office.
Akume said the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Atiku Abubakar, was going against the understanding he had supported in 1999 by seeking to contest the 2027 presidential election.
He spoke on Thursday in Abuja while receiving a delegation of the Miyetti Allah Fulaku Yesoyeso, led by its National President, Alhaji Abubakar Suleiman.
In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yomi Odunuga, the SGF recalled that the power-sharing agreement was reached at a meeting of governors-elect of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Kaduna in 1999.
“Under the agreement, the South was to serve for eight years before power returned to the North for another eight years. I am surprised that Atiku, who was part of the meeting and supported the arrangement, is now seeking to become president after Buhari has already served eight years,” Akume said.
“This is not the time for the North. The North will come in to contest in 2031,” Akume said.
The SGF argued that the arrangement had been largely followed by successive administrations, from former President Olusegun Obasanjo to the current administration of President Bola Tinubu.
He recalled that Obasanjo served eight years, while the late President Umaru Yar'Adua succeeded him but died in office. His vice-president, Goodluck Jonathan, then took over and served for almost six years before Buhari became president and completed two terms.
Akume said Tinubu succeeded Buhari and had served four years, with another four years remaining under the arrangement.
“Personal ambition should not be allowed to divide the country or undermine its unity. Those seeking the presidency from the North should wait until 2031,” Akume said.