The Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of Human Virology of Nigeria, Patrick Dakum, said on Sunday that while getting the most qualified Nigerians as president was important, a rotational presidency in 2023 would foster unity.

He said each region of the country had qualified Nigerians to rule the nation.

“My view about the rotational presidency is that we are not ripe enough to jettison the system. We have not gotten to that stage.

“We have not arrived at the point where we can say the presidential seat should be based totally on credentials, irrespective of where the candidate comes from.

“Nigeria is such that every region has people that can run this country. It means that what people want is to continue to solidify unity and have a sense of belonging.

“If you have the leadership not going round in terms of the regions, it means some parts of the country will feel that unity is theoretical. For me, let us maintain zoning for now,” Mr Dakum said.

He added that even when the seat is zoned to a particular region, the region should strive to produce the best candidate for the position.

“Having said that rotation should be sustained does not mean that the region to produce the candidate should not work at producing a good one,” he noted.

Though governors from the southern states have demanded that the presidency shift to South in 2023, northern leaders says such a demand is not constitutional.

Mr Dakum agrees but says politicians should be gentlemanly to accept power rotation.

“Since the Constitution does not spell out a rotation, it means you can’t stop someone from anywhere from contesting. It is only a gentlemanly agreement to ensure that unity is certain.

“Let us continue that gentlemanly agreement until we are ripe enough to add skills and other credentials,” he advised.