President Bola Tinubu may have started moves to win back the support of northern leaders and those aggrieved with his administration.
Close aides to the President told Sunday PUNCH several initiatives were being implemented and new ones created.
While insisting that the President was not afraid of any political or pressure group, the sources said the plan was to counteract the recent actions of some northern leaders opposed to his reelection in 2027.
Some Northern politicians had expressed discontent with the Tinubu administration, citing what they described as unfair policies and marginalisation.
They also accused the President of nepotism and filling his cabinet with Lagos indigenes.
A former Chief Whip of the Senate, Ali Ndume, had lamented that the President was not accessible to lawmakers and chieftains of the All Progressives Congress.
Ndume, who was removed by the party over the comment, was replaced by the Senator representing Borno North, Tahir Monguno.
Despite being sanctioned, Ndume initially defended his statements, insisting Tinubu was not accessible. He later apologised.
Earlier in July, a former National Vice Chairman of the party in the North-West, Salihu Lukman, also berated northern politicians in the Tinubu-led administration. He described them as a “choir group poorly singing ‘on your mandate we stand’ irrespective of the shaky and staggering reality being demonstrated by the mandate holder.”
Lukman, who recently resigned from the APC, also berated Vice President Kashim Shettima for not being a rallying point for Northern politicians.
“With every respect, hardly any official of the current administration of President Asiwaju Tinubu from the North, including Sen. Shettima, is willing and able to take the needed risk to defend the interest of the North.
“Because of self-preservation, already scheming for 2027 has commenced. Within the Presidency, there are indicative cold war dynamics and positioning, which is alleged to be responsible for the praise-singing disposition of Vice President Shettima,” he added.
About two months earlier, the Dean of the Borno Elders Forum, Prof Khalifa Dikwa, during a television interview, disclosed that the Northern elite were unhappy with Tinubu because of his “misfit and weak appointees” as well as his “anti-people policies.”
Dikwa added that even “the southern elite should be annoyed because Nigeria is more than Lagos”, describing it as “provocative.”
Some prominent northerners had also raised eyebrows following the decision of the Federal Government to relocate some departments of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the headquarters of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria from Abuja to Lagos.
In April, a spokesman for the Northern Elders Forum, Abdulaziz Suleiman, said the forum regretted supporting Tinubu, adding that with the increased security challenges in the region, the North had learned its lessons.
Suleiman, in an interview, noted that the North would prioritise unity and agreement in choosing the country’s next top presidential candidate.
“The North made a mistake in voting Bola Tinubu to the presidency in 2023, and it is unlikely that they will repeat the same error in the future. They have learned from their past missteps and will strive to select a candidate who can unite the country and govern in the best interests of all Nigerians.
“Moving forward, the North will be more cautious in selecting a candidate for the presidency. They will prioritise someone who is seen as more inclusive, less controversial, and more aligned with the interests of all regions of the country,” he stated.
But a credible source said the Presidency was working to address some of the issues, adding that a two-prong approach was being deployed.
“The first is to increase patronage to the north in terms of appointment. With this, we can silence the noise and complaints on the lopsided appointments, which has no basis.
“The second is to address the prominent problem of poverty and illiteracy, which is a serious issue. This was part of the reason for the creation of the North-East Development Commission,” the source added.
The senior official expressed sadness that northern governors were not acknowledging the contributions of the Federal Government to their states.
He pointed out that palliatives being distributed by the central government for the welfare of citizens were not getting to them, noting that bags of rice were being rebranded and shared by some governors.
According to the source, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, had been tasked with taking up causes of the north and fighting for them.
A popular northern politician who also spoke with Sunday PUNCH on condition of anonymity, said Vice President Kashim Shettima, and the National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Ganduje, had also been mandated to reach out to the aggrieved stakeholders.
He said, “Some political bigwigs were interested in certain positions but were not given them, and they have resorted to working against Asiwaju’s return, which is not good. But that does not bring any fear to Asiwaju’s camp. To be a little more open, Vice President Kashim Shettima, the National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Ganduje, and I are all from the North.
“We are reaching out to the aggrieved stakeholders, and we are also accessible. We are critical stakeholders who hold ground for Asiwaju in the North. We will reach out to everyone; it is a collective effort.”
Recall that last week, the Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed, had also lent his voice to the agitation for a northern leader in 2027, vowing to jettison his presidential ambition if former President Goodluck Jonathan agreed to contest.
According to him, the former president has the requisite experience to revamp the economy and would do a good job if given a second mandate to manage the country.
But a former Minister of Communication and prominent APC chieftain, Adebayo Shittu, said Nigerians should be wary of such moves.
He said, “If you are calling for a change in government, you still have to wait until the current one run its term. Now, you are even calling on Jonathan to come back. He, just like others, is free to return and contest election in 2027. But certainly, there won’t be any election before then and there cannot be any change of government. If Jonathan has done very well, Nigerians won’t have voted him out after spending about six years in office. Tell me, if the PDP had done very well, would the people have voted them out? Nigerians only voted them out after their term expired.”
A former lawmaker who represented Kaduna Central between 2015 and 2019, Senator Shehu Sani, warned against the desperation of some northern elites to return to power.
He said, “If President Tinubu succeeds in addressing the security situation, education, and poverty in Northern Nigeria, no northern elite will stop him from being re-elected in 2027.
“The desperation to return to power in 2027 by some northern political elites is not in the interest of the North but is driven by personal reasons, as some of them have been schemed out. So, they often turn to a sectional agenda when their own personal interests are affected.”
Speaking with Sunday PUNCH, a former Minister of State for Works and National Coordinator of South-West Agenda for Asiwaju, Prince Adedayo Adeyeye, said Tinubu had “sufficient loyalists on his side to confront any opposition coming from any angle.”
“I believe that by the time we approach 2027, Nigerians will know that the president will win his second term as president,” he added.
In his reaction, the President of the Middle Belt Forum, Dr Bitrus Pogu, said the plot against Tinubu by some northern elements was an agenda to ensure that power remained in the North.
He urged Tinubu to restructure the country by building on the recommendations of the 2014 CONFAB report and enhancing it to ensure that the constitution addressed the gaps perpetuating the North-South division.
The Senior Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Temitope Ajayi, said the President was focused on delivering good governance.
He said, “The president is focused on delivering good governance to make life better for every Nigerian, regardless of the region you come from, regardless of ethnicity or the faith you profess. So, his focus now is dealing with issues that affect the lives of Nigerians. 2027 is three years away, so why should he be bothered? He is focused on the things that are more important to Nigerians.”