ZONING OF POLITICAL OFFICES IN NIGERIA: ENUGU STATE AS A CASE STUDY
Zoning or rotation of political offices especially the office of President and Governor has in recent times dominated both the mainstream media as well as social networks where nothing has been left unsaid or unwritten.
Although, only the Peoples Democratic Party has the rotational presidency clause dutifully and strategically embedded in its constitution, other political parties including the ruling All Progressives Congress have all come to accept the principle due to its popularity and efficacy in dousing political tension in a country where politics and politicking have hopelessly remained a do or die affair.
Those who oppose the principle on the ground of not being underpinned by the constitution of the land have always been reminded that the laudable six geopolitical zonal structure( as clinically articulated by the late Alex Ekwueme during the 1996 political reform conference) which has today subliminally become the basis for the allocation of elective and appointive political offices at the federal level, including allocation of projects, is yet to earn a space in the nation’s constitution.
Again, even though the principle of federal character is enshrined in section 14(3) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended, the provision is non justiceable and thus makes it absolutely lawful for a President or Governor to appoint his wife, son or daughter as Secretary to the government, Chief of staff or into any other critical position if he chooses so to do.
Non justiceablity simply means that although the constitution frowns at such act of nepotism or clannishness under the aforementioned section, no citizen of Nigeria can successfully challenge any such infraction in the court of law by reason of its non justiceability.
Despite this somewhat lacuna in the constitution, it’s on record that no President or Governor has taken advantage of the loophole to make his cabinet a family affair. That only goes to show that morality though not law itself, provides the rugged fabric upon which any law is woven.
It’s perhaps for this same reason that certain practices though not recognized by law have as much force as laws themselves due to their high morality content and in respect of which the society is unwilling to comprise.
The summary therefore is that everything must not be backed by law before it can be accepted and enforced by the people if it has high content of morality and which includes equity and fair play.
This position appears to have been accepted across all political divides in the country hence only very few voices speak against the zoning or rotational arrangement as a veritable panacea for peace and stability in developing countries and without which governance is impossible.
The problem however is that among those who claim not to believe in the zoning principle are persons who have mischievously contrived their own weird and convoluted version of zoning and which many consider selfish, self serving and carefully designed to obfuscate and if possible scuttle the entire zoning arrangement.
At the national level, some desperate politicians in their rabid pursuit of personal ambitions have been trying so hard to change the narrative of rotational presidency between the North and southern Nigeria to one between the six geopolitical zones contrary to the practice established since 1999.
Those vigorously pushing this self serving narrative have the singular objective of scuttling Igbo presidency in 2023 which is due and ripe by all permutations.
For instance, politicians sponsoring the narrative from the North East and the North central Nigeria argue that the South East is not the only geopolitical zone which has not produced an executive president as their own zones too are yet to do so(here in Enugu state, they called it ”Cultural Group”) How far they can go in pushing the jaundiced narrative remains to be seen but Nigerians are not deceived.
They know that rotation of the presidency means rotation between the North and the South and that when it becomes the turn of the South in 2023, the south East is the only southern geopolitical zone yet to produce an executive President not only since 1999 but also since independence.
At the state level and Enugu state in particular, attempts are also being made by some desperate politicians to follow suit by twisting the zoning or rotational narrative to mean something else just to accommodate their rabid desperation to the inordinate ambition. A desperate politician to occupy the lion building whether the rotational arrangement favours him or not.
”But When lies brought people together, Truth will separate them”
This selfish contraption appears to be having problems already by reason of not answering some basic questions hence the exponents are seriously considering abandoning it altogether. One of the basic questions includes;
what determines the senatorial zone to take over the governorship seat in 2027 if for example, the Enugu West Senatorial zone (instead of Enugu East) begins in 2023, the natural course of rotation having been disrupted?
Furthermore, is rotation by its very nature not a continuous process which pauses at no point to change course?
Has the rotation of the earth ever stopped at any given point so as to have two consecutive days before a night simply because both day and night have all had their turns?
Faced with this seemingly insurmountable albatross, the dissident political group is considering abandoning the hard to sell narrative for another one. That other one and the only remaining option is to completely vilify zoning or the rotation principle as undemocratic and out of tune with the demands of the 21 century.
The media team of the dissident political group has as a plan B been asked to promote merit as the only qualification for holding political office rather than quota which zoning appears to promote. (But no senatorial zone in Enugu has monopoly of merit) To achieve this objective, the team also has the mandate of providing a fertile ground for the narrative to thrive by vilifying and demonizing the present government in the state and Local Government, But (Gov Ugwuanyi & Ezeomeogo are formidable leaders)
That they should do by totally dismissing any success attributable to it as false or ordinary and always project it as a non performing one. That way the intended narrative that merit rather than zoning is the only hope for the state would have gained enough ground before 2023. The media team has since gone to work.
However, political pundits are of the opinion that this narrative too is not without its own conundrum. Those pushing it have the mountainous burden of proving that thousands of prospective candidates of merit for the office of Governor, do not abound in all the three senatorial zones of the state and that zoning must lead to the emergence of quota and unqualified candidates which it could only afford if adopted. They also have the burden of proving that the zoning arrangement in practice in the state since 1999 has produced nothing but bad, repulsive and unqualified leaders ever since.
For Enugu state to jettison zoning just in order to accommodate the inordinate ambition of a desperate politician, those marketing him also have the onerous burden of proving that among thousands of highly qualified candidates who abound in the three senatorial zones, ( some of whom are more than qualified for the office of president) only their preferred candidate is best suited and indispensably cut out for the office of Governor and in which case it is absolutely necessary for the state to abandon zoning so that less qualified persons who are all candidates of zoning from other senatorial zones, will not prevent their only qualified and best candidate from emerging the next tenant of the lion building. (If truly that he is an eagle as his boys claimed , Eagles soar higher not lower) Nigeria Presidency is the climax of an eagle.
In conclusion, it’s hoped that wise counsel will prevail so that anyone or group of persons hitting up the polity unnecessarily just to actualize his vaulting political ambition will have a change of heart and realize the futility of such ambition. Zoning or rotation of the office of Governor has come to stay in Enugu state and has become so entrenched and ossified that no one person no matter the amount of money he has accumulated, is capable of bending the rule in the middle of the game. Like I said, let wise counsel prevail.
Zoning simply means ”federal character” enshrined in Nigeria Constitution.
Written by
Eze Benedict Chibunna
MEDIA TEAM MEMBER OF ENUGU DI N’AKACHUKWU MOVEMENT
