North Central Renaissance Movement: The Presidency Or Vice Presidency?

The North Central Renaissance Movement (NCRM) recently issued a statement, urging President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to drop Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, so as to have a North Central representative on the Tinubu ticket.

This shows that they are highly optimistic that President Tinubu would win the 2027 elections. This also shows that the group is not focused on a particular price, and just seeks some sort of relevance in the political equation of the country.

A few days ago, they were with notable opposition figures, seeking a power shift to the North Central, demanding the Presidency for their zone, and encouraging politicians from the zone to contest for the Presidency come 2027. Where was the group in 2023, when the APC, in an unwritten agreement, decided to support a shift of power to the South, while the PDP fielded a northern candidate? Did they approach the PDP for a North Central power shift and demand that Atiku step down? Or supports a North Central candidate?

When Peter Obi fielded a North Western VP candidate, where were they? After all, they overwhelmingly supported the Labour Party, which fielded a southern candidate! Peter Obi scored a million vote from the region. Is the NCRM now moving to reap where it did not sow? I thought that the next politically expedient move would be to seek a VP slot for the region under the Labour Party they gave their all?
Politics is a game of numbers. Do they have the numbers to usher a win? Did they play a role in the emergence of the APC Presidency? No and No. Whoever is contesting for the Presidency has to be calculative enough to find the votes, the votes that are going to count, and the votes that matter the most. He has to win the highest number of votes.

He has to have a geographical spread, covering 24 states, with 25 percent of their votes, depicting that he has the support of the different parts of the country. This is important for inclusivity, when it comes to governance. What the North Central is deficient in, in terms of numbers, has to be compensated by with political deftness.

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Election figures show that they camped with the PDP and the LP in the last elections, and have always been in bed with the PDP historically since 1999. They enjoyed the PDP years of 1999 to 2015, and were in tango with the ruling party of yesterday, and even then, never moved for the Presidency either by working for it, or demanding it, as they are simply doing now. They did not challenge the late Yar’Adua’s pick, neither did they challenge Atiku’s pick.

The most politically expedient thing to do if they are serious about the Presidency, is to launch a bid for it, under a platform that is sympathetic, or agrees with their cause. Asking a party you do not support, or have traditionally never supported, to drop their VP candidate for your candidate, is akin to asking President Tinubu to bring down his house for you, or for the opposition you’ve been working with all these years.

If they really wanted to catch the President’s attention, they could have done that with their votes in 2023. But they didn’t, and they sent in a wrong signal.