2027: APC Chieftain Calls for Fairness and Inclusivity, Backs Southern Presidency

Adekunle Ayoola, chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Poland, has called for Nigeria’s presidency to remain in the South in 2027, arguing that regional rotation is needed to preserve political balance and inclusion.

In a statement on Tuesday, Ayoola urged political parties, national stakeholders and voters to uphold fairness, equity and mutual respect as preparations begin for the general elections. He said keeping the presidency in the South would maintain the existing political understanding on rotating power between the North and South.

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As we approach 2027, my position is clear: the presidency should remain in the South for the 2027 presidential election, maintaining the existing political understanding of regional rotation.

Ayoola stressed that rotation does not give any region an automatic constitutional claim to the presidency. Nor, he said, should it restrict political parties from nominating candidates or Nigerians from voting for whoever they choose. “As we approach 2027, my position is clear: the presidency should remain in the South for the 2027 presidential election, maintaining the existing political understanding of regional rotation,” he stated.

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By ‘rotation,’ I do not mean that any region has an automatic constitutional entitlement to the presidency, nor that voters or political parties should be restricted in exercising their democratic choices.

He described rotation instead as a negotiated political understanding involving Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones: the North-West, North-East, North-Central, South-West, South-East and South-South. Political parties, civil society organisations, traditional and community leaders, and other national stakeholders should also take part, he said. “No region should be treated as an outsider or permanently excluded from the conversation,” Ayoola added.

His proposed sequence is: “2027, South continues. Thereafter, North. Subsequently, South-East.” Ayoola said the arrangement would give the North the next turn after 2027, while the South-East would receive serious consideration when the presidency later returns to the South. He said the South-West and South-South would retain their legitimate aspirations in later political cycles.

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No region should be treated as an outsider or permanently excluded from the conversation.