The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has declared that northerners, like every other Nigerian, are constitutionally qualified to run for the presidency in 2027, even though they are encouraged to wait until 2031.
This clarification came after Niger State Governor Mohammed Bago urged northern politicians to shelve their ambition until President Bola Tinubu completes two terms in power. Speaking with TVC’s Politics on Sunday, Bago described the 2027 call for a northern president as premature and insisted that Tinubu must be allowed to complete his eight years in power before the presidency heads north again.
Good heavens, the man has been in power for only two years, and you want to return it to the North. How?” Bago insisted. He also declared that the campaign headquarters of Tinubu’s re-election would be Minna, Niger State.
Bago’s utterance is a flashback to the same opinion held by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, who recently warned northern contestants to wait for 2031.
But the ACF dismisses such calls. ACF Spokesman, Prof. T. A. Muhammad-Baba, reaffirmed that the Constitution guarantees any Nigerian an opportunity to contest.
“Governor Bago was only expressing his opinion. There is no legal basis for it. The Constitution gives all Nigerians absolute and unqualified rights to contest any office. At the moment, it is just a party affair,” Muhammad-Baba added.
He recalled that the late Abubakar Rimi, former Governor of Kano State, in 2003 contested the PDP ticket against then-President Olusegun Obasanjo against Obasanjo’s re-election bid. “This is not the first time such statements will be made without an effect,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the APC has already written Tinubu’s name in as its 2027 candidate. Northern heavyweights such as former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who is set to run on the ticket of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), and Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have made their intentions to run known.
Labour Party’s Peter Obi has also shown interest in another race, as some northern politicians are reportedly attempting to convince former President Goodluck Jonathan to return to the race.
