The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, has reiterated that the country’s informal arrangement to rotate the presidency between the north and southern regions should be respected through 2027, warning northern politicians against seeking the office before the South completes its current eight-year tenure.
Akume, in a statement on Wednesday described the rotation understanding as essential to national cohesion and democratic stability since Nigeria’s return to civilian rule in 1999.
The SGF stated this while receiving a delegation from the Order of the Knights of St. Mulumba, led by Supreme Knight Steve Adehi, in Abuja.
Akume said the arrangement originated in Kaduna in 1999, when governors-elect on the platform of the then-dominant Peoples Democratic Party and other political leaders agreed that presidential power should alternate between the North and South in eight-year cycles, beginning with the South.
He described the pact as a response to concerns that concentrating power in one region could fuel resentment and threaten national unity.
SGF Akume argued that the arrangement has helped manage Nigeria’s regional diversity by preventing either region from feeling permanently shut out of the presidency.
He said it should be regarded not as a temporary political convenience, but as a durable understanding grounded in fairness, mutual respect and stability.
NewsQuest reports that his comments amount to a warning to northern presidential aspirants ahead of the 2027 election.
Akume said that, following former President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight years in office, the South’s current tenure should be allowed to run its course before the presidency returns to the North.
The remarks come as political positioning intensifies ahead of 2027, with regional power rotation remaining a contentious issue in Nigeria’s presidential succession.
Similar calls by SGF Akume have drawn attention to the unresolved status of the so-called Kaduna pact, which is a political convention rather than a constitutionally binding rule.
During the meeting, Akume also said the government’s development agenda must address both immediate economic pressures and long-term growth needs.
He called for closer cooperation among federal, state and local governments to improve citizens’ welfare.
Sir Adehi said the Knights of St. Mulumba had supported medical treatment, paid outstanding obligations for inmates to aid their release, provided boreholes, renovated schools and assisted hospitals.
He said private philanthropy and community initiatives must complement government efforts to reduce poverty and improve living conditions.
