Popular TV anchor Rufai Oseni has stated that former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar cannot advocate for the zoning of the presidency only when it suits him, describing such behaviour as “hypocritical”.
Oseni made these remarks recently on Arise Television while analysing zoning as Nigeria prepares for the next general election.
Although no section of Nigerian law limits those who can contest for the presidency to a particular region, many political pundits have argued that rotating the position between the Northern and Southern regions of the country ensures stability.
However, despite this assertion—and the fact that the late President Muhammadu Buhari ruled for eight years before handing over to President Bola Tinubu in 2023—Atiku has refused to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race.
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Reacting to the development, Oseni argued that the former Vice-President is content when zoning favours him but changes his stance when it does not.
He noted that Atiku approached the court in 2011 to advocate the enforcement of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) zoning formula while former President Goodluck Jonathan was in office.
He said: “Atiku Abubakar should stop being hypocritical. When zoning favours him, he has no problem with it, but when it doesn’t, he suddenly declares it self-defeating.
“Is it not the same Atiku who went to court against Jonathan in 2011 to enforce the PDP zoning formula?
“There were many court cases. I think in one of the rulings, the courts said they couldn’t assume jurisdiction and give a decision, but they acknowledged the fact that the PDP had zoning arrangements.”
Oseni then asked: “So, when he was going to court, when he was pushing against Jonathan, zoning was not self-defeating, right? How about when he left Olusegun Obasanjo in 2007?”