By Kingston Magare 16.4.2026
President Bola Tinubu’s special adviser on information and strategy Bayo Onanugu has argued that based on an informal north-south power rotation arrangement President Tinubu must complete his eight years tenure just like his predecessor Muhammadu Buhari.
Mr. Onanuga was responding to remarks made by 2027 presidential aspirant Atiku Abubakar who claimed that there was no zoning formula in the Nigerian constitution stressing that it was restricted to parties’ agreement.
But according to Onanuga who was writing on X social media platform on Thursday, Atiku is morally bound to respect the arrangement of power rotation between north and south.
“Since Buhari completed his eight years, Tinubu too must complete his own,” Onanuga stated
“Abubakar Atiku has put forward a self-serving argument to justify his attempt to disrupt Nigeria’s power rotation arrangement.
“In 2023, as a member of the PDP—a party that, like others, practices zoning—Atiku disregarded the established formula and sought to succeed a fellow northerner, who had spent eight years in office.”
“His ambition fractured the PDP, leading to his resounding defeat at the polls.”
Though Atiku acknowledged the principle of rotation, he argued that southerners have been Presidents more than northerns in the present political dispensation.
“But if we are talking about the zoning formula in the PDP, the South has governed for 18 years and the North has governed for 10. So who is in a deficit if you want to be fair?” he said.
He also said he would support a consensus candidate for the 2027 election.
“The most practical option is to have a consensus,” Atiku said, adding that he would back whoever emerges, even if it is Peter Obi or any other aspirant.