ROTATIONAL PRESIDENCY: VEHICLE OF NATIONAL INTEGRATION IN NIGERIA
David Aniefiok Titus & Uduakobong Jimmy Udoudoh
Department of Political Science, Evangel University, Akaeze, Ebonyi State, Nigeria
Department of Political Science and Public Administration, University of Uyo, Uyo,
Email: davtitus4@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
This study is aimed at investigating the concept of Rotational Presidency as a panacea to the problem of national integration in Nigeria. There has been a raging argument that the position of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria should rotate among the various ethnic nationalities and geo-political zones that make up the country. This is not strange as the Federal character principle of proportional sharing is firmly entrenched in the 1999 constitution as amended. Three hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. A sample size of 120 was selected across the six geo-political zones on the basis of simple random sampling. Analyses of the data were done using chi-square with decisions taken at 0.05 level of significance. From the study, a number of findings were obtained. The majority of the respondents agreed that there will be national integration and socio-economic development in Nigeria if rotational presidency is practised considering the heterogeneous nature of the country; but few argued that it will promote mediocrity, ethnicity and sectional politics. In conclusion, the research joins most respondents in recommending a constitutionalized rotational presidency toward Nigeria’s national integration quest.
Keywords: National Presidency, National Integration, Power Shift, Zoning, Federal Character.
