The April 23rd Yobe’s Covenant With Tinubu’s Second Term, Consensus Election

By Mamman Mohammed

In Yobe state, it has become a tradition that critical stakeholders of the ruling All Progressives Congress always assemble on the eve of every national election to put their house in order to confront elections with a united front peacefully and successfully. This explains why Yobe state has no record of political tribulation and violence.

At the critical APC stakeholders meeting in Damaturu last week, the state Governor, Hon. (Dr.) Mai Mala Buni CON, COMN, while declaring the meeting open, said “We have maintained this relationship over the years as a family, and this has been quite encouraging and worthy of emulation. I can say without fear of contradiction that Yobe state is a leading example of political unity in Nigeria”.

Even in opposition, from 1999 to 2015, Yobe state maintained a steady position and never was on the same page with Nigeria’s ruling political party until in 2015 when the mega opposition parties formed the now All Progressives Congress (APC).

The holistic approach to adopting APC as the state party, did not only earn Yobe state a strong national recognition in Nigeria’s political landscape, but came with a prize of producing leadership for the party. First was the emergence of Alh. Tijjani Musa Tumsa, as the national secretary under the Chief Bisi Akande leadership which nurtured the party from birth.

The party congress  thereafter elected Governor Buni to become the first substantive National Secretary, who after serving his first term of office, was reelected for a second term of office. A position he held until his retirement to contest the governorship of Yobe state in 2019 and emerged with a landslide victory. His elections in 2019 and 2023, were never contested in any court of law by either the opposition political parties or their candidates.

Quoting the former Speaker and Katsina state Governor, Aminu Bello Masari, said “Governor Buni is an encyclopedia of APC, and an authority in political party administration”. Barrister Ismaila Ahmed, a former APC national youth leader, described Governor Buni as “a leader with institutional memory of the party”. These attributes are testaments to the critical contributions of Governor Mai Mala Buni to the APC.

It could be recalled that, Buni was nominated by the National Executive Committee as National chairman of the Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee to save APC from an imminent collapse, and most recently, he was the Secretary of the just concluded APC 2026 National Convention committee.

A master class political strategist, an astute mobilizer and an unequalled conflict resolutionist, Buni was nicknamed ‘Limamin Sulhu’- meaning- the Apostle of Peaceful Resolution of Disputes. This is equally confirmed with his appointment as Chairman of the party’s Conflict Resolution, Strategy and Mobilization committee, by His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR.

Buni commenced his address appreciating the political maturity exhibited by politicians in the state without regard to their political differences saying, “Yobe state has always demonstrated high profile Political maturity driven by peace and the collective interest of the state and its people. Although we may have differing political standing and opinions, we have never allowed violence in our political life. This is a testament that we are indeed the home of Politics without Bitterness as advocated by one of our astute political leaders, the late Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim.

He was also quick to remind the stakeholders that  before 2015 Yobe state had never been with any national political party. The amalgamation of the mega parties to form the All Progressives Congress brought the state to the national party and government.

“It is gratifying that our alignment with the national party and government since 2015 has attracted some advantages to the state which facilitated the peace and our reconstruction and recovery programme for the good of the state and its people.

“It is in the light of this therefore, that l call on the good people of the state to once again support the All Progressives Congress and endorse His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR for a second term in the 2027 election, and so humbly endorse” he emphasized.

He reminded the stakeholders of the sad and unfortunate insecurity challenge the state has suffered and the efforts made in rebuilding the state with support from the APC-led federal government, making it mandatory for Yobe state to support APC and President Tinubu for another term of office.

“We have experienced a very unfortunate protracted security challenge that robbed us of many precious lives and property. We were almost dragged to ground zero but, alhamdulillah, the then government of His Excellency, Sen. Ibrahim Gaidam, worked so hard with support from the federal government and the security agencies to ensure that the state remained on its feet without falling to the insurgency, from where this administration took over to arrive at where we are today.

“Distinguished sons and daughters of the state, l want to use this occasion to appreciate the good people of the state for your resilience and support to the government in our recovery efforts, not only to rebuild the state but to make life much easier for our people.

“To our security operatives, the government and good people of Yobe state are hugely indebted to your commitment to the fight against insecurity. Some of you paid the supreme sacrifice for Yobe state to remain peaceful. Your sacrifice is never in vain as we now enjoy relative peace, a cause to which you laid your lives for,” Gov. Buni noted.

As provided by the APC constitution, the stakeholders have the option of agreeing to consensus or direct voting to produce the party’s candidates ahead of the 2027 general election. The party subjected its position to adopt consensus as the mode of producing its candidates, and the endorsement of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR for a second term of office. A motion to adopt the consensus mode was moved by President of the Ninth Senate, Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, and was seconded by the Speaker, Yobe state House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Chiroma Buba Mashio. This position was put to a vote and was unanimously approved by the stakeholders.

To reiterate its position, Sen. Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, read a communique of the stakeholders’ meeting in which it stated clearly in unambiguous terms that the party in the state has endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term of office and the consensus mode of election as provided by the APC constitution for the conduct of the primary election. To further establish this, the decision was put to question and was unanimously voted in favour. It was a display of a strong political unity in action.

Moments before the stakeholders took the unilateral decision of endorsing President Tinubu for a second term of office and adopting the consensus mode for the election, the Chairman of the stakeholders’ forum, former Governor of the state and current Minister of Police Affairs, Sen. Ibrahim Gaidam, assured the stakeholders that the forum would consider anyone with a different opinion. Therefore, the stakeholders should feel free to express their opinions on every decision taken.

“Recently, it was reported that APC aspirants to the office of the governor in a state in North Central geo-political zone mandated their governor to select one of them as a consensus candidate. I believe the present administration in Yobe is not an exception. It has someone in mind who shares its mission and aligns with its vision and common destiny to be the next governor of the state, therefore, this is not unusual or strange” the stakeholders forum chairman said.

Gaidam emphasized that “let my advocacy for consensus not be misinterpreted to mean an attempt to impose the nomination of a candidate.

The collective decision made by the stakeholders endorsing President Tinubu for a second term of office and the adoption of consensus to produce the governorship, national and state assembly  candidates is a reflection of the unity, collectivity and harmony of Yobe’s political sagacity, maturity and leadership.

– Mohammed is the DG Press and Media Affairs To The Governor