The Guardian (Nigeria)

Group says North can’t stop Tinubu in 2027

Tinubu, like Buhari, will serve eight years as President, says Nabena

- From Saxone Akhaine ( Kaduna) and Adamu Abuh ( Abuja)

AREWA Think Tank ( ATT) has said the North cannot stop President Bola Tinubu’s dream of a second term in office.

This was echoed by former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of All Progressiv­es Congress ( APC), Yekini Nabena, who said Tinubu would surely serve two terms of eight years in office.

According to the Northern group, this is because the North does not need political power for now, but infrastruc­ture and educationa­l developmen­t by a leader, who cares for the region.

Fielding questions from journalist­s, after a prayer session for Tinubu’s 72nd birthday at Arewa House, Kaduna, Convener of ATT, Mohammed Yakubu, regretted that a Northerner was at the helms of affairs for eight years without impacting positively on the region.

Yakubu advised that Northerner­s must tell themselves the truth, put regional sentiments aside and support Tinubu’s second term in office in 2027 to ensure developmen­t in the zone.

“Why will the North stop Tinubu? How can the North stop him in 2027, after somebody from the North had done eight years? For us to have peace in this country, the North has no option, no alternativ­e than to vote Tinubu for another second term, so that he can do eight years as well. What North should be thinking now is infrastruc­ture and educationa­l developmen­t.

“Considerin­g the enormity of challenges facing the North, it does not need political power now. We must put our house in order and tell ourselves the bitter truth. Insecurity, which we hoped that former President Muhammadu Buhari would have dealt with, got worse. That means political power has no value for the North.” N

ABENA also declared that no political coup in the National Assembly would remove the incumbent

President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio , as the Chairman.

He bared his mind against the backdrop of talks of merger by chieftains of a section of opposition parties and some prominent members of APC.

Reacting to the developmen­t, Nabena said: “The 2027 presidenti­al election will come and go , but the Presidency will remain in the South and Tinubu, by God’s grace, will continue his good job.”

According to the Bayelsa State- born politician, the South and the North must support Tinubu to succeed in his Renewed Hope Agenda because the country belongs to all of us, not only on paper or mouth but in reality. “Nigeria’s unity must not be compromise­d,” he added.

He noted, in a statement, that if Buhari could complete his eight years in office, there is nothing wrong if Tinubu does the same.

It will be just for Tinubu, who hails from the Southern part of the country, he asserted, to serve out his full two terms tenure by 2031.

“The South will not fight again for other regions to benefit. The era of division in Southern Nigeria is gone for good.”

 ?? PHOTO: NAN ?? Executive Assistant, United Nations Office for the Coordinati­on of Humanitari­an Affairs ( UNOCHA), Andy Bisong ( left); Director- General, National Emergency Management Agency ( NEMA), Zubaida Umar; Head of Office, UNOCHA , Trond Jensen; Government Liaison Officer, UNOCHA, Aishat Ibrahim and Director, Planning, Research and Forecastin­g, NEMA, Dr Onimode Bandele during the visit of the UNOCHA delegation to NEMA headquarte­rs, in Abuja... yesterday.
PHOTO: NAN Executive Assistant, United Nations Office for the Coordinati­on of Humanitari­an Affairs ( UNOCHA), Andy Bisong ( left); Director- General, National Emergency Management Agency ( NEMA), Zubaida Umar; Head of Office, UNOCHA , Trond Jensen; Government Liaison Officer, UNOCHA, Aishat Ibrahim and Director, Planning, Research and Forecastin­g, NEMA, Dr Onimode Bandele during the visit of the UNOCHA delegation to NEMA headquarte­rs, in Abuja... yesterday.

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