11.03.2008 - Source: US Department of State

According to nigerian law, the composition of the federal, state, and local government has to reflect the diverse character of the country ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2007") [ID 19883]

"To promote national unity and loyalty, the law mandates that the composition of the federal, state, and local governments and their agencies, as well as the conduct of their affairs, reflect the diverse character of the country. The government was an example of this diversity: President Obasanjo is a Yoruba from the southwest, the vice president is a Fulani from the northeast, and the senate president is an Igbo from the southeast. The government also attempted to balance other key positions among the different regions and ethnic groups. The political parties also engaged in "zoning," a practice of rotating positions within the party among the different regions and ethnic groups to ensure that each region was given adequate representation. Despite this effort, with more than 250 ethnic groups, it was difficult to ensure representation of every group in the government."

Document(s): Open document

06.2007 - Source: Freedom House

In August Foreign Minister Okonjo-Iweala resigned from government after being moved from post as finance minister in June and having her position as head of economics team stripped away ("Freedom in the World 2007") [ID 20553]

"In August, Foreign Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala resigned from the government after being moved from her previous post as finance minister in June and having her position as head of a high-level government economics team stripped away weeks later. Okonjo-Iweala was known internationally for her efforts to combat corruption, and analysts said her resignation harmed Nigeria’s credibility on economic reform. She had also been seen as a potential presidential candidate for 2007."

Document(s): Open document

07.2006 - Source: Freedom House

Political offices rotate among ethnic groups and geographic regions ("Countries at the Crossroads 2006") [ID 18294]

"Rotation of political offices among Nigeria's ethnic groups and geographic regions has become a firmly entrenched principle of politics. The leading political parties are widely multiethnic, due in part to progressive election laws, and they typically rotate elected offices and party positions among members of their own party across the main regions of the country. Cabinet offices and leadership positions in the National Assembly are also distributed to mirror the 36 states of the federation, and state-level offices are similarly distributed across intrastate divides. Critics of President Obasanjo's purported third-term bid, however, have argued that it would violate the rotation principle and jeopardize the fragile stability that this principle has afforded."

Document(s): Open document