Succession Battle Begins…
As more tributes pour in over the demise of former President Muhammadu Buhari, there is a seeming uncertainty over what becomes of his political family and structure.
Pundits, including former presidential political adviser Hakeem Baba Ahmed and political scientists, argue that it would be difficult to produce a successor who could command Buhari’s immense political following in the North.
They spoke against the backdrop of Buhari’s demise and the resultant void in the late president’s political base.
The former president passed away in a London hospital last Sunday. He had gone there on a medical trip.
However, in his time, Buhari dominated the North politically, garnering huge supporters across North West, North Central and North East geo-political zones. With the Buhari Organisation (TBO), the former president built an almost impregnable political fortress in the North.
His cult-like following was established in the number of votes he could sustain when he started elective politics in 2003 under the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).
Even after he left the ANPP and formed the defunct Congress for Progressives Change (CPC), his base remained strong enough to put him on a formidable posture going into the 2013 merger arrangement of legacy opposition parties, namely, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), ANPP and part of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
The former president was so politically formidable in the North that he averaged 10 million votes in three election cycles between 2011 and 2019 .
In 2015, Buhari achieved an unprecedented victory over an incumbent president, leaving the structures of the former ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the North in tatters.
Fondly called Baba Mai Gaskiya by his supporters for his publicly acknowledged forthrightness, Buhari leaves big shoes to fill. Beyond his lanky frame, he had a strong charisma that fuelled his massive acceptance in his base.
Likely successors from within
While no formal contest has been called to determine Buhari’s successor, it remains to be seen who his followers gravitate to. So far, according to LEADERSHIP checks, some top Northern politicians are likely to step into Buhari’s shoes one way or another.
Before his death, the late president was the leader of the Congress of Progressive Change (CPC) bloc within the ruling APC. The CPC and ANPP, both now defunct, share an affinity as the former pulled out of the latter.
However, there are prospects that one of the top leaders within these APC blocs might inherit the political base. Whether or not they have the Buhari touch remains to be seen.
However, some pundits argue that the Buhari political family appears split since he left office in 2023.
They cite the joining of the opposition ADC coalition by some key Buharists, which might make it difficult for whoever emerges to inherit the fullness of the former president’s political family.
The following are believed to fall within the likely range.
VP Kashim Shettima
Vice President Kashim Shettima is from the ANPP bloc in the APC, Buhari’s former party. He served as Borno State governor on the defunct party’s platform until the 2013 merger.
By his position as vice president, Shettima appears in a top position to be considered a likely successor to Buhari’s political base.
Nasir El-Rufai
El-Rufai is the immediate past governor of Kaduna State and a self-acclaimed Buharist. Following his fallout with President Bola Tinubu, he exited the APC and has since joined the opposition coalition.
El-Rufai, who admitted consulting Buhari before he left the APC, has also tried to rally the CPC bloc away from the APC.
He currently spearheads the coalition in the North West, but whether he will be able to command the same mass followership that Buhari had is another matter.
Mai Mala Buni
The Yobe State governor was considered one of Buhari’s strong allies. He is also of the ANPP bloc in the APC. He enjoyed a good measure of Buhari’s confidence so much so that he served as acting national chairman of the APC as a state governor during Buhari’s second term in office.
Abubakar Malami
Malami is the former attorney general and minister of justice, and a staunch Buhari supporter from Kebbi State. Although he has joined the coalition ADC, he is one of those seen, in certain quarters, as a likely successor to the late president.
Umaru Al Makura
The former Nasarawa State governor was the only CPC governor during the 2013 merger. Al Makura is still in the APC and intends to be its national chairman. He currently enjoys the backing of the CPC bloc within the APC for the top seat.
His candidacy is being touted as a solution to ensure the CPC bloc is integrated into the APC before the ADC coalition swoops in on it.
Contenders from outside Buhari’s political family
Atiku
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is considered one of those outside the Buhari immediate political family who could assume the prime political figure in the North.
Atiku is perhaps the next most influential Northern politician after Buhari in recent times, thanks to his unprecedented six presidential attempts since 1993.
Buhari’s political clout had always clouded Atiku’s image as a core northern leader. However, with Buhari’s demise, the former PDP presidential candidate is seen as one who could fill the vast void.
Tellingly, however, the former vice president is conversant with inheriting a strong political structure, having become the leader of the late Shehu Musa Yar’Adua’s political family.
Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso
Although the former Kano State governor was no match for Buhari politically, he has been able to sustain a political movement known as the Kwankwasiyya group.
With this political group, Kwankwaso was able to spread his influence across parts of the North. His ability to retain his influence in Kano, the region’s commercial capital, puts him in good stead to continue growing his base. His last outing as presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Political Party (NNPP) in 2023 proved his dominance in Kano and some North West states.
With Buhari out of the way, it seems like he can expand his political reach in the region.
Can the void be filled?
Many observers believe Buhari has left a huge political vacuum in the North that will be difficult to fill.
We can’t have another Buhari – Baba Ahmed
Former special adviser to President Tinubu on political matters, Dr. Hakeem Baba Ahmed, said, “I don’t think anybody can become another Buhari. I’m not sure that we need another Buhari. May God forgive his transgressions. What happened was a phenomenon that fit the time.
“His popularity was a reflection of the desperate need by Nigerians for a good leader, and by the time he became president – that is, the elected president, not a military president – we had become desperate to have good leadership. Well, he benefited from his first time as a military head of state and created a persona and an image of a tough, non-corrupt leader that Nigerians were desperate for.
“I think if the Buhari question says anything about Nigeria, it is that Nigerians genuinely want a strong, honest leader. So it’s not so much about him; it’s about the kind of person who should embody that image and do better than Buhari did when he was alive – not just the image, but the substance.
“So, questioning whether we can have somebody like Buhari to step in, we don’t even need that. There are thousands of Nigerians who can become honest, who can lead well, who can fight insecurity, who can fight these levels of poverty we have.
“The problem is that you have a captive political system in the hands of a few elite, and they will not yield the ground for other Nigerians who can provide better leadership, a more empathic leadership, a more sympathetic leadership. That’s basically what the problem is.
“So I think the question should not be who can step into the shoes, but how do we find a good leader that embodies those qualities that people saw in 2015 and they voted for President Buhari,” he said.
His current loyalists can’t fill his void – Shettima
Responding to the question of Buhari’s successor, the president general of the Arewa Youths Consultative Forum (AYCF), Alhaji Yerima Shettima, said most of those who would have inherited Buhari’s political structure are “either late or may have parted ways with him before his death.”
“The very few that served with him do not have such capacity or what it takes to fill the vacuum because most lack ideology and the integrity that President Buhari possesses,” he added.
His successors can emerge – Senator Gire
For his part, Senator Abubakar Girei, who represented the Adamawa Central Senatorial district between 1999 and 2003, believes the vacuum can be filled.
The senator said, “He was indeed unquestionably the most incorruptible political leader we have ever had in this country. I think replacing him is going to be a difficult task, and only God can give us another person of his calibre.
“Although he has his shortcomings, he has his failures especially in his second coming as President of Nigeria, but whichever way, he remains the most incorruptible leader with the best integrity and impeccable character, and no doubt about it, we can only pray to the Almighty Allah to give us a replacement of him. But for now, I haven’t seen anybody who can match or step into his very big shoes.
“In any case, I am also a possible candidate anyway and I think I can also fit in because I am not corrupt and my integrity is intact. I am completely incorrupt, and I have maintained impeccable character and integrity, and I have no doubt in my mind that only people like me can step into his shoes,” he said.
Girei mentioned others who could step up in Buhari’s absence.
“Let me also say that the likes of the present National Security Adviser (NSA) Malam Nuhu Ribadu, Vice President Senator Kashim Shettima, General Muhammad Buba Marwa (retd.), and Professor Babagana Umar Zulum are notable northerners, I feel, can fill the shoes of the blate President Buhari,” he said.
No One In Buhari’s Family Can Pull His Crowd – Political Scientists
Meanwhile, political analysts have ruled out the chances of any of Buhari’s possible successors gaining the following he had.
The national president of the Nigeria Political Scientists Association (NPSA), Prof. Hassan Saliu, said that it would be difficult to get anyone in the family of the late former President Buhari who can consistently pull the crowd as he was able to do.
Saliu stated this during an interview with LEADERSHIP in Ilorin, Kwara State.
He said: “Concerning your specific question, nothing is known about members of his family who are into politics. So, one may not be too specific on the matter. However, one can say with almost certainty that it will be difficult to get anybody in his family who can consistently pull the crowd as he was able to do, garnering, on three occasions, over ten million bankable votes.
“The masses in the North believed so much in him, and that was why they kept voting for him until he was rewarded with the presidency in 2015 and re-elected in 2019. Was his integrity intact throughout? One would not be able to say, for now, that we are mourning his death. We can discuss that after the burial.”
Saliu, who teaches at the University of Ilorin, commiserated with the Buhari family and all Nigerians over the former president’s passing.
“Before I answer the question you have posed to me, it is important to say that with his death, the crop of Nigerian politicians with a trait of integrity, whether real or imagined, is gone. Buhari would seem to be the last man standing on the issue of integrity until his death. The tribute of General Babangida to him has confirmed this about him,” he added.
Buhari’s 12m Votes No Longer Intact
Speaking on the issue, Dr Christian Okeke of the Department of Political Science, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, said: “The 12 million votes or voters are not exclusive properties or personal fiefdoms of the late president.
“Even though he had those votes or voters then, there is no guarantee that they will remain intact for him after his eight-year tenure.
“Don’t forget that even before his second term ended, most of his supporters were already engaging in street protests and tearing down his campaign billboards, even in the north, out of frustration created by his scorching economic and political policies. Banditry, even in his Katsina, claimed the lives of some of those supporters, too.
“Generally, open resentment against him was monumental, and there was no guarantee that he could have still amassed such votes if he were to stand for election. I believe he also understood that he was literally standing alone, except perhaps with the cabals and a few of his core supporters who got appointments.
“Recall that many of those who stood by him felt betrayed and abandoned. They lost out and could not enjoy the privileges from the man they volunteered to die for. So, that sad situation makes it a joke for anyone to claim that those 12 million voters remain intact now.
“Let’s not forget that in 2023, the late Buhari left them to their fate by asking his supporters to vote for any candidate of their choice. He left them rudderless.
“He also disappointed his core loyalists from The Buhari Organisation – APP-ANPP-CPC, who angled to be presidential candidates of APC by saying that he had no preferred candidate, and he left them to go and struggle without any form of support.
Some of these people shed tears and almost retired from politics. Some either died, got knocked out, or are just getting self-resurrection currently.
“For those of them that pledged allegiance to him unto death, it is a law that nature abhors a vacuum.
Satisfying their personal interests cannot be sacrificed at the altar of Buhari’s demise. They will certainly be subsumed into other political alliances and platforms of their new godfathers. The harsh socio-economic realities will not permit them to “die” with the dead.”
Buhari will be laid to rest in Daura today
Governor Dikko Umaru Radda of Katsina State has announced that the burial of former President Muhammadu Buhari, who passed away on Sunday in London, will take place today, Tuesday, July 15, 2025, in his hometown of Daura.
The governor made the announcement while addressing journalists at the Umaru Musa Yar’adua International Airport in Katsina on Monday morning.
“For the burial arrangement for our father, who died yesterday in London, we have made consultations with the family and people around him in London. We have concluded that the body will arrive in Katsina by noon and the burial will take place in Daura at about 2 pm,” Governor Radda stated.
On behalf of the people and government of Katsina State, he expressed deep condolences to the late president’s family, describing Buhari as a father figure whose legacy of integrity and service will remain unmatched.
Security has been beefed up in Daura and surrounding areas in preparation for the funeral, with dignitaries from across the country expected to attend the final rites.
Tinubu Sets Up Committee For Buhari’s State Burial
President Bola Tinubu has approved the constitution of an inter-ministerial committee to plan and coordinate a state burial for former President Muhammadu Buhari, who died on Sunday in London after a prolonged illness.
According to a statement issued by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) on Monday, the committee will be chaired by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume.
The committee is given the task of organising a befitting state funeral for the late former president, whose contributions to Nigeria’s political and military history span over five decades.
Other members of the committee include the ministers of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Defence, Information and National Orientation, Works, Interior, Federal Capital Territory, Housing and Urban Development, and Art, Culture and Creative Economy, as well as the minister of state for Health and Social Welfare.
The committee also includes the national security adviser, the special adviser to the president on policy and coordination, the senior special assistant to the president on political and other matters, the inspector general of police, the director-general of the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Chief of Defence Staff.
The Office of the Permanent Secretary, General Services Office (GSO), will serve as the committee’s secretariat.
MDAs directed on condolence registers
In a related directive, President Tinubu has ordered all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to open condolence registers at the entrances of their offices, allowing Nigerians to pay tribute to the late statesman.
A central condolence register has been opened at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, Abuja, for members of the diplomatic corps and the general public.
Further briefings on the funeral programme are expected to be released by the committee in the coming days.
Buhari, who served as Nigeria’s Head of State from 1984 to 1985 and later as a democratically elected President from 2015 to 2023, will be accorded full state honours as preparations continue for his burial in Daura, Katsina State.
President Tinubu had earlier declared a seven-day national mourning period, during which flags are to fly at half-mast nationwide.
Heavy Security Deployed Ahead of Burial
In preparation for former President Muhammadu Buhari’s burial, a heavy security presence was observed across Katsina State, especially along the road leading from the state capital to Daura, his hometown.
Armed personnel from the Nigerian Police Force and the Nigerian Army were stationed strategically, providing tight security and ensuring orderliness as the state braces for the high-profile burial.
This development comes as dignitaries, family friends, and sympathisers have begun arriving in Daura to pay their last respects.
At the Daura Emir’s Palace, the atmosphere was sober, reflecting the gravity of the loss.
Though mourners and well-wishers trooped in steadily, the ancient town of Daura remained largely calm, with residents going about their daily routines under the watchful eyes of security forces.
Katsina State Deputy Governor, Faruk Lawal Jobe, was received in Daura earlier this morning as one of the first senior government officials to arrive for the burial rites. Also seen was Yarin Katsina, Sulaiman Amani, a close family friend of the late President, who visited the Buhari family compound to offer his condolences.
The former President’s residence in Daura was a solemn camp, with only a few select dignitaries allowed in as arrangements for the burial went into top gear. Security around the compound was particularly tight, as family members and officials finalised the logistics for the internment scheduled for later in the day.
Despite the mourning mood, there is an air of quiet dignity and discipline, reflecting the legacy of the man Daura and the nation have lost. President Buhari, known for his simplicity and discipline, will be laid to rest according to Islamic rites.
More dignitaries, both local and international, are expected to arrive ahead of the final rites.
FG Declares Holiday
The Federal Government has declared today, 15 July 2025, as a public holiday in honour of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari, who passed away on Sunday, 13 July 2025, at the age of 82.
This declaration, which comes during the seven-day national mourning period announced by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was made by the Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, in a statement issued through the Permanent Secretary, Dr Magdalene Ajani.
According to the Minister, the holiday is a mark of national respect for Buhari’s decades-long service to Nigeria, as a military Head of State (1983–1985) and democratically elected President (2015–2023), highlighting his commitment to national unity, security reform, and anti-corruption efforts.
The statement read: “President Muhammadu Buhari served Nigeria with dedication, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to the unity and progress of our great nation. This public holiday provides an opportunity for all Nigerians to reflect on his life, leadership, and the values he upheld.”
The government urged citizens to observe the holiday by promoting peace, patriotism, and national cohesion — ideals which President Buhari championed throughout his public life. In continuation of the mourning period, national flags are to fly at half-mast until Saturday, 19 July.
President Buhari, a native of Daura in Katsina State, left a complex legacy. His time in office was marked by both commendations for infrastructural development and criticism over security challenges and human rights concerns. However, even critics often acknowledged his personal integrity and austere leadership style.
The Federal Government extended condolences to the Buhari family, the people of Katsina State, and the entire nation, praying for the peaceful repose of the former President’s soul.
Buhari: North West Governors Declare Public Holiday
The Northwest Governors’ Forum had declared Tuesday, 15 July 2025, a public holiday across all states in the region in honour of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
In a statement signed by the Forum’s Chairman and Governor of Katsina State, Malam Dikko Umaru Radda, the governors expressed shock and sorrow over the passing of the elder statesman.
“The Northwest Governors’ Forum receives with shock and deep sorrow the news of the passing of our beloved former President, General Muhammadu Buhari, who breathed his last yesterday at a hospital in the United Kingdom,” Radda said.
He described Buhari as a “father, leader, and the pride of the Northwest region”, adding that he lived a life marked by “service, integrity, and sacrifice for the betterment of Nigeria”.
As part of the region’s tribute, Radda announced the unanimous decision of the governors to observe Tuesday as a public holiday in all Northwest states.
“This gesture reflects the deep reverence we hold for a man who dedicated his entire life to serving Nigeria and humanity,” he stated.
The statement said the remains of the late former President will arrive in Katsina at approximately 12:00 PM on Tuesday, while the burial ceremony is scheduled for 2:00 PM.
“We call on all Nigerians to join us in prayers for the peaceful repose of his soul,” Radda urged.
FG Postpones Special FEC Session for Buhari
The federal government has postponed the special Federal Executive Council (FEC) session earlier, which was scheduled for today, 15 July 2025, in honour of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to a statement issued on Monday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the postponement became necessary to allow for the former President’s state funeral and burial rites in his hometown, Daura, Katsina State, on the same day.
In place of the FEC session, the Federal Government has declared Tuesday a public holiday in honour of the departed leader.
The Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) is expected to announce a new date for the special council session after the funeral activities are completed.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had called for the special FEC meeting to celebrate and honour the contributions of his predecessor, whom he described as a patriotic statesman who served the country with dedication and integrity.
“The remains of the former Nigerian leader will arrive from London tomorrow by noon, after which he will be committed to Mother Earth in his hometown, in accordance with Islamic rites,” the statement said.
President Buhari died in a London clinic on Sunday, 13 July, following a prolonged illness. His death has plunged the nation into mourning, with President Tinubu declaring a seven-day period of national mourning, during which all flags across the country are to be flown at half-mast.
We’ve got the edge. Get real-time reports, breaking scoops, and exclusive angles delivered straight to your phone. Don’t settle for stale news. Join LEADERSHIP NEWS on WhatsApp for 24/7 updates →
Join Our WhatsApp Channel