2023: VON Boss Lauds El-Rufai Over Support For Rotational Presidency

The Director General, Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr Osita Okechukwu, has commended Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State for his support for continuation of the rotation of presidency from North to South.
Okechukwu, in a statement yesterday in Abuja, said that El-Rufai’s support for the sustainability of the rotation convention which midwifed the 4th Republic Nigeria, was a vital plus.
Okechukwu however said that although the governor did not mention what part of the south the rotation should go to, “the most important thing is that Malam El-Rufai is a major political actor and a foremost northerner.
“Joining the agitation for the continuation of the rotation convention of presidency from North to South is a vital plus,” he noted.
The VON boss said that the Southeast deserved a Falae and an Obasanjo model, where the two main candidates would come from the two dominant political parties, that is the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He said that the southern belt, ‘Ndigbo’ or the southeast in particular is the only geopolitical zone that had not presided over Nigeria since the advent of the rotation convention.
According to him, all equity and good conscience perspective agrees that it is the turn of the Southeast.
Okechukwu noted that although it was unwritten, but everyone understood it and that in some parties like the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), it was even written in its constitution, but that the norm was breached in 2015.
He, however, urged all politicians to honour and understand and abide by the consensus, except there was an extenuating circumstance compelling them to set it aside.
“To me, this is a patriot statement from the most qualified northerner who ordinarily could have placed personal interest above the equity, natural justice and good conscience, which the rotation convention engenders.
“His selfless stance is why one commends him for his uncommon patriotism. Malam El-Rufai, no doubt, is eminently qualified as one of the most performing governors in this dispensation,” he said.