The Presidency came under fire from the Arewa Consultative Forum, Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar for 2023, and other stakeholders for declaring that President Bola Tinubu would remain in office till 2031.
The ACF cautioned the Tinubu administration to concentrate on providing Nigerians with effective governance by avoiding preoccupation with the 2027 election.
When he asked northern political figures who were planning to run for the 2027 presidency to set aside their plans and wait until 2031, when President Tinubu would have finished his second term, Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume sparked a flurry of activity on Sunday.
“As a Southerner, President Tinubu should be allowed to have a second term,” the SGF said on a TVC programme. This means that individuals from the North who are interested in running for president in 2027 should wait till 2031. Even at 90 years old, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar can become president of Nigeria if that is God’s will. However, he should look beyond 2027, as should other Northerners considering the position now.
In response to Akume’s assertion, Prof. Tukur Muhammad-Baba, the ACF National Publicity Secretary, told The PUNCH in a Monday interview in Kaduna that it was premature to begin discussing the 2027 Presidency.
“At this time, we have not taken a position on the matter. We believed that the focus should be on providing the electorate with services and practicing good government,” he said.
Muhammad-Baba contended that the discussion about the 2027 Presidency was a diversion from the more important problems of the nation, even if the ACF did not specifically support or disagree with Akume’s assertion.
“We believe that it is premature to discuss the 2027 presidency.
“We believe that the people should receive good dividends from democracy and that good governance should be the main priority. This discussion about 2027 is premature and diverts attention from the important conversation. Do the masses benefit from democracy?
“Should the government take action on behalf of the populace? Nigerians ought to focus on this rather than the 2027 Presidency,” he stated.
In response to Akume’s position, former Vice President Atiku, who lost to Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election, claimed that the North and South had held the presidency for six years differently. Paul Ibe, Atiku’s media adviser, claimed in a statement that the South will have been led for 17 years by 2027.
Where, therefore, do real equity and fairness lie?” Atiku said. Eight years under Obasanjo, five under Jonathan, and four under Tinubu would give the South 17 years of leadership by 2027, compared to just 11 years for the North, with Yar’Adua serving three and Buhari eight. This clouded the balance of power by causing a six-year gap between the North and the South.
“In any event, the Nigerian people retain the absolute authority to choose and remove their government, which is granted to them based on the government’s capacity to demonstrate its merit. However, has the Tinubu administration proven that it is deserving of reelection? Unfortunately, the answer is as obvious as the sky itself—God forbid.
According to the People’s Democratic Party, 2027 is a rescue mission, and no one person can stop another person’s political aspirations.
Timothy Osadolor, the deputy national youth leader for the PDP, blasted Akume for trying to sabotage other’s goals to further President Tinubu’s agenda.
“Only someone profiting from the poor management of the current presidency, led by President Bola Tinubu, could have made such a regrettable statement.
“George Akume, who has been a senator, governor, and now the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, has always lived a privileged life; therefore, I won’t hold him responsible. He is undoubtedly among those who have used lies and praise singing to distance President Tinubu from reality. They have distanced the president from Nigeria’s present situation. George Akume, who lives off of taxpayer money and is ignorant of the misery of others, is not to be blamed because I don’t know when he last visited the Benue market, let alone other parts of Nigeria,” Osadolor said.
According to Osadolor, Nigerians would have the chance to rebuild and restore their nation by 2027.
“No matter where in the country someone is from, it is very regrettable for anyone to wish to crush their dreams,” he said. Since this is a democracy, we are all dedicated to ensuring that our nation is run well. We are dedicated to representing all of us with our finest selves. No one can thwart the ambition of another one who should or has the right to take such authority for themselves just because they stand to gain from some aspect of the system. Nigeria will need to be rescued, rebuilt, and revitalised by 2027.
“The Nigerian people will have the power to rebuild and restore their nation by 2027. Therefore, it is necessary for all well-meaning Nigerians, whatever their origins, to come forward. We will examine the most qualified candidates and provide our support, and if one of them wins, we sincerely hope and pray that Nigerians, who have suffered over the last eight to twelve years of the APC’s abomination of governance, will unite behind that individual to preserve and rebuild their country.”
PDP spokesman Debo Ologunagba responded to Akume’s statement by claiming that the party would defeat the APC in 2027, just as the National Democratic Congress defeated the ruling party in Saturday’s Ghanaian presidential election.
In a statement released on Monday, Ologunagba characterised Ghana’s victory against the opposition NDC as a glaring illustration of the people’s strength triumphing over repressive government policies and misrule.
“After Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, his primary rival, conceded defeat, former President John Mahama was proclaimed the victor of the nation’s presidential election.”
In response, Ologunagba said, “The Peoples Democratic Party commends the Ghanaian people for their tenacity in upholding democracy and making sure that their will won out in the Saturday, December 7, 2024, presidential election that put President John Mahama and the National Democratic Congress back in power.
The opposition NDC’s democratic win is a blatant example of the people’s power triumphing over repressive policies and misrule, as is currently the case in Nigeria under the corrupt, incompetent, and callous All Progressives Congress.
“The people’s power in Nigeria, like in Ghana, will undoubtedly prevail, end the APC’s oppressive rule, and return Nigeria to the path of good governance, security, political stability, and economic prosperity on the platform of the PDP in 2027.” This is a signal to the APC that its days in office are coming to an end.
Nigeria was “once a prosperous nation and a preferred destination for international foreign investment and one of the world’s fastest-growing economies,” but the APC has decimated it, the PDP lamented.
It stated, “It is unacceptable that the APC has destroyed our collective patrimony over the past nine and a half years, allowed terrorists to enter our country, killing over 65,000 Nigerians; destroyed our youth’s creative abilities; devalued our naira from roughly N197 under the PDP to nearly N2,000 to the dollar with an inflation rate of over 34%; and crippled our productive sectors, resulting in an unemployment rate of over 40%.
“It forced oppressive policies, such as raising the price of petrol from N97 per litre under the PDP to over N1,000 today, and mortgaged the future of our nation through reckless borrowing.” It also caused misery for Nigerians, as millions of families are now unable to pay for their daily meals and other essentials. What was even more concerning, the press secretary stressed, was that the APC leaders were supposedly unaccountable and apathetic while Nigerians suffered greatly and imposed high levies on the populace.”
