The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and other prominent northern political bigwigs have rejected a call by the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje, for the North to wait until after Tinubu second term before contesting. The northern leaders asserted that the region cannot be intimidated into re-electing President Bola Tinubu in 2027 when the region is in grave hunger crisis because of Tinubu’s bad policies.
Ganduje made the remarks yesterday when he received a delegation from the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Media Centre and the Tinubu Northern Youth Forum at the APC national secretariat in Abuja.
According to Ganduje, since a northern president—Muhammadu Buhari—completed his two terms, as president, it will be fair to give Tinubu similar gesture of eight years.
However, the ACF and other political interest groups of the northern extraction rejected Ganduje stance, saying he was only speaking for himself.
The National Publicity Secretary of the ACF, Prof. Tukur Muhammad-Baba, while speaking to newsmen yesterday had slammed Ganduje’s statement where he described it as the presidency’s “cult-like” nature, where total allegiance is expected.
Mohammed stressed that voters cannot be influenced by force to rally behind a bad candidate.
“He or she or party members cannot influence voters by force. So, what he said was an opinion, and it’s up to the voters to endorse, reject, or modify it. In 2015, we were sold a dummy of anti-corruption. We were sold a dummy of many things, and people have realized that it wasn’t true. Then, of course, the Renewed Hope came in 2023, and the hope is turning into a nightmare,” Muhammad-Baba stated.
This is coming shortly after Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, also casted doubt on Tinubu’s chances ahead of the 2027 after sharing a post on his verified X handle titled “2027: South West, Tinubu’s supporters playing with fire – Part 1.”
The post suggested that Tinubu’s relationship with the North had significantly deteriorated less than two years into his tenure, warning that he could suffer a fate similar to former President Goodluck Jonathan, who lost re-election in 2015.
