Recently, there have been passionate and clarion calls beginning with the Nigerian Southern Governors Forum on the 16th September 2021 and Southern and Middle Belt Alliance (SAMBA) for Southern Nigeria to produce the next President of Nigeria come 2023. In an opposition style, the Northern States Governors’ Forum held a meeting on the 27th September 2021 to express a contrary position to the call of their colleagues in the South. Pockets of legal experts from the South and North have also expressed opinions on the rotation of the President or otherwise.
Noteworthy, the Nigerian President is the alpha and omega in the country as ALL executive powers are vested in him. See Section 5 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) (hereinafter referred to as the “Nigeria Constitution”). As such, it is a given that a Nigeria President is domineering, as all frightening powers of the State including that of the Armed Forces, State Security Services, Police Force, Economy and Finances and even the power to appoint the Chief Justice of Nigeria are in the sole hand of the President, amongst other numerous powers.
Furthermore, Nigeria like most other African countries is composed of heterogeneous ethnic groups. This is the upshot of colonialism which strung together different unrelated peoples for administration convenience and economic exploitation of the colonial master. Hence, is the reality of Nigeria as a country with over 250 ethnic groups falling either in the North or South geography of the country.
Fully aware of the rampant heterogeneous ethnic groups comprising most African States, the Assembly of the Heads of State and Government of the Organization of Africa Unity (now African Union since 2002) in Banjul in 1981 adopted the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (hereinafter referred to as the “Banjul Charter”) and consciously provided against the domination of a people by a people in article XIX thereof. It is no news that in 1983 the National Assembly pursuant to a similar Section 12 of the incumbent Nigeria Constitution transformed to the Nigeria municipal jurisdiction verbatim the provisions of the Banjul Charter now African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, Cap 10, LFN, 2004 (hereinafter referred to as the “African Charter”), hence a domestic law in Nigeria.
It is trite that the provisions of the African Charter are enforceable as fundamental rights together with Chapter IV of the Nigeria Constitution. See Order II Rule 1 Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009. In Ogugu v. State (1994) 9 NWLR (Pt 366) 1 at 26-27 the Supreme Court per Bello CJN held that by virtue of its transformation, the African Charter has become part of Nigeria’s domestic laws and “the enforcement of its provisions fall within the judicial powers of the courts as provided by the Constitution and all other laws relating thereto”. Furthermore, the Court of Appeal held similarly as above in the case of Fawehinmi v Abacha (1996) 9 NWLR (Pt 475) 710 thus:
The African Charter is enforceable by the several High Courts depending on the circumstances of each case and in accordance with the rules, practice and procedure of each court.
Having abundantly established that the provisions of the African Charter are enforceable in our courts, same prohibits none dominance of a people by a people and such constitute a collective fundamental right of a people in the Nigerian jurisprudence. Article 19 of the African Charter provides thus:
All people shall be equal; they shall enjoy the same respect and shall have the same rights. NOTHING SHALL JUSTIFY THE DOMINATION OF A PEOPLE BY ANOTHER.
Having noted at the beginning of this article that the office of the Nigeria President is domineering since ALL executive powers are vested in the President, it goes against the collective fundamental right of freedom from domination of the people of Southern Nigeria for another Fulani man or Northern Nigerian to become the next Nigerian President in the obvious bid to DOMINATE the people of Southern Nigeria.
I hereby use this medium to call upon the two main political parties, to wit, APC and PDP, to zone the presidential tickets to Southern Nigeria to avoid their candidates being on a collision course with the law and the collective fundamental rights of the people of Southern Nigeria and hence illegal with the clear consequence of holding such candidacy null and void. I would also use this medium to remind the North that in 2019 PDP entirely zoned the presidential ticket to the North without a single Southern Candidate. APC did same by adopting President Buhari as a consensus candidate.
The consequences of a Northern President emerging in 2023, apart from being illegal, national unity and loyalty of Southern Nigeria would be endangered, as rightly envisaged in Section 14 (3) of the Nigeria Constitution. This is because no section of the country would agree to act as a slave to the other concomitance of DOMINATION.
Lastly, I want to call on credible candidates of Southern Nigeria extraction to begin to warm up for office of the Nigerian President in 2023 as follows: Dr Okonji Iweala, Mr Peter Obi, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Governor Rotimi Akeredulu, Governor Nyesom Wike and Mr Akinwunmi Adesina.
Othniel A. Ikpibako holds Master of International Law and Diplomacy, Master of Laws, Associate Member Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK) and an International Law Consultant.
