Northern leaders from the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) and the socio-cultural group, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), have taken divergent positions on the presidency ahead of the 2027 election cycle.
While the NEF stated it would take a stand on the 2027 presidential election within six months, the ACF said it would not declare support for any candidate.
Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, former special adviser to the president on political matters in the office of the vice president and a key promoter of the Northern Elders Forum, publicly declared that in the next six months, the North would come out and announce its position on the issue.
He added that the Northern Elders Forum would no longer tolerate the shenanigans of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
However, speaking to LEADERSHIP yesterday, the ACF stated that the forum would not publicly support any presidential candidate in the 2027 poll.
Speaking in a telephone interview on Sunday, ACF national publicity secretary, Prof. T.A. Muhammad Baba, who was asked to comment on Baba-Ahmed’s statement, said that as an elder, Baba-Ahmed had the right to express his opinion.
The ACF spokesman, however, clarified that, as a nonpartisan organisation, the forum would analyse all the relevant issues and present them to the electorate so that they could make informed choices in 2027.
“Dr Baba-Ahmed has the right to express his opinion. It is within his rights. He just left the government, and whatever he says is his prerogative. You know we are approaching the 2027 elections, and many such opinions by individuals and groups will surface as elections draw nearer. We expect to see more of such commentary. However, ACF is not a political organisation; we are non-partisan.
“As elections approach, we can only analyse issues and present them to the electorate so that they can decide who to vote for. We will not declare support for any political party’s candidate contesting the 2027 presidential election. We will remain neutral as a socio-cultural organisation,” the ACF said.
Killings, Plot to Frustrate Tinubu’s Re-election – ATT
Meanwhile, another northern group, the Arewa Think Tank (ATT), has expressed support for Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule’s stance that the North should work towards President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027.
Governor Sule recently stated that the North needed to mobilise for the actualisation of President Tinubu’s second term bid in 2027.
On the recent killings in Plateau and Benue States, the Arewa Think Tank alleged that political enemies of Nigeria were doing everything possible, including involving foreign actors, to frustrate the conduct of the 2027 general elections.
In a statement on Sunday by the Convener of ATT, Muhammad Alhaji Yakubu, the group vowed to support President Tinubu’s return, come rain or shine.
“We know that supporting President Tinubu’s second-term bid would fulfil the promise the region’s leaders made on the matter ahead of the 2023 general elections.
“We trust and believe in Governor Sule because he is the chairman of the North Central Governors’ Forum, and we know that the North is not known for reneging on its promises.”
ATT urged Northern leaders to distance themselves from agitations by some politicians bent on confusing the polity simply because they failed to realise their ambitions.
“Unfortunately, it is the same politicians who sold the Tinubu candidacy to the people in 2023, but are now turning around to criticise the President. Some politicians will always create confusion if they fail to achieve their goals. We must say ‘No’ to such individuals and work for Tinubu’s return to power for a second term in 2027,” it stated.
According to the Arewa Think Tank, the various killings in the country were being carried out not only by local insurgents but also by foreign actors entering Nigeria through porous borders, with the intention of dividing the nation along religious and ethnic lines in order to portray Tinubu’s government as weak.
“We therefore condemn the recent wave of killings in Plateau State and other parts of Nigeria.
“These evildoers are killing our people — Christians and Muslims, northerners and southerners — just to destabilise the country and discredit the government.
“We recall that the current crisis mirrors the build-up to the 2015 general elections, during which former President Goodluck Jonathan faced a similar wave of insurgency.
“These killers are already preparing the ground for 2027, because a similar pattern occurred in 2014 before Goodluck Jonathan was defeated. We know who they are: foreign elements from the West. They don’t want a stable Nigeria,” the statement added.
The group called on the federal government to shut the nation’s borders and prevent the influx of foreign elements into Nigeria.
“Let’s arrest every single one of them and ensure they face the full wrath of our laws,” it added, while also commiserating with the victims of recent terrorist attacks.
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