The topmost northern socio-cultural organisation, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), has declared that northern aspirants, like other Nigerians, have the constitutional right to contest the 2027 presidential elections against President Bola Tinubu.
APC national publicity secretary, Prof. T. A. Muhammad-Baba, dismissed such calls and said there was no way to stop any northerner from contesting the top position.
He noted that such calls had been made earlier but failed to yield positive results.
Muhammad-Baba made this clarification while reacting to a comment by Niger State Governor Mohammed Bago, who asked northerners willing to be Nigeria’s president to wait until 2031, in keeping with a power rotation deal of the presidency rotating between the northern and southern regions.
During an interview on TVC’s Politics on Sunday, Bago had described the call for a northern presidency just two years into Tinubu’s tenure as politically hasty.
“For crying out loud, this man has just spent two years in office, and you want it to return to the North. How?” he asked.
“When he (Tinubu) finishes his eight years, power will come to the North, and northerners who want to contest can then contest.”
He said there was “no going back” on the plan and restated that the Tinubu campaign headquarters would be in Minna, the Niger State capital.
Bago’s comment comes months after the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, also called on northern aspirants to shelve their ambitions until Tinubu finishes his constitutionally guaranteed two terms in 2031.
The calls come amid intense early scheming for the 2027 presidential election.
Tinubu took over from the former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023. Buhari had served the constitutionally required eight years after taking over from former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.
While the APC leadership has adopted Tinubu (South West) as its candidate for the 2027 election, the northern presidential aspirants are former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim.
Atiku is billed to run under the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), while Olawepo-Hashim will contest on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), despite the party’s zoning of its presidential ticket to the South.
Shortly after his return from a foreign trip, Atiku, who recently declared his intention to contest in 2027, had been meeting with some northern politicians, including former APC governorship candidate in Bauchi State, Air Marshal Sadique Baba Abubakar; Senator Halliru Jika; and Senator Sulaiman Nazi Gamawa.
Olawepo-Hashim, on the other hand, has been mobilising his base against attempts to restrict the contest for the PDP ticket to the South.
In addition to Tinubu from the South, former Labour Party candidate Peter Obi (South East) has also indicated an interest in contesting the 2027 election.
Also, some northern politicians are reported to be sounding out former President Goodluck Jonathan to run again for the nation’s top job that he lost as an incumbent to Buhari in 2015.
ACF: Northerners Are Eligible to Contest
However, the ACF spokesman said every northern aspirant is eligible to contest for the top seat.
Muhammad-Baba recalled that the late former Kano State Governor Abubakar Rimi had challenged ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo when he sought a second term in 2003.
The ACF spokesman said: “I think Governor Bago was just expressing his opinion. There’s no provision for enforcement. The position he has taken has no place in the Constitution. It is counter to constitutional provisions which give citizens the absolute and unequivocal right to contest elections or offer themselves to be voted into office. For now, it is a party affair.”
“Besides, it’s not the first such call that has been made. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) made the same declaration a few weeks ago. Besides, it isn’t the first time such pronouncements have been made without positive results.
“Late Kano State Governor Abubakar Rimi had challenged President Olusegun Obasanjo, up to the primaries, when the latter came out to contest for a second term. To that extent, there is nothing to worry about,” he stated.
