Akume: Any Northerner contesting 2027 Presidency is the region’s enemy

Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, on Saturday branded any northerner contesting in the 2027 presidential election as an enemy of the region.

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, is the only prominent politician from the north battling to unseat President Bola Tinubu in the next year’s presidential contest.

Speaking at a pre-campaign meeting with a large crowd of Benue State indigenes residing in Kaduna, Akume noted told Northerners that the agreement on power rotation between the North and the South was reached in Kaduna State to keep the country together.

The APC flagged off its presidential campaign in Kaduna on Saturday.

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A statement by the SGF’s spokesman, Yomi Odunuga, quoted him to have said: “Remember that it was in this same Kaduna State that we agreed on power rotation between the North and the South. You cannot doubt the credentials of those that reached this agreement at that time, and it was done to keep this country together. We agreed on power shift, and that is what has kept this country going. That is what has retained our territorial integrity.”

As a result, he declared that any Northerner seeking to contest the 2027 presidential election is an enemy of the North, insisting that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu remains the right candidate to lead Nigeria beyond 2027 Nigerian Politics Coverage

“Anybody who is from the North and running for the presidency is an enemy of the North. Don’t allow that pretender to deceive you. It is not yet our turn. The North’s turn is in 2031. Prepare to vote for Tinubu. Do not allow anyone to destroy the country because of a vaunting personal ambition,” he said.

The SGF urged the North to back Tinubu’s re-election bid and wait until 2031 before seeking to return to the presidency. He warned that individual political ambitions should not be allowed to undermine the region’s collective interests.

The former Governor of Benue State urged Northerners to remain united and resist political manoeuvres capable of weakening the region’s influence.

He cautioned against attempts to divide them along political, religious and personal lines, and recalled past political disagreements among Nigerian leaders, warning against repeating mistakes that could weaken the North in national politics.

He said the North stands to benefit more from supporting Tinubu’s second-term ambition than from allowing individual political interests to create divisions ahead of the next general elections.Follow Politics

Defending the president’s record, the SGF said Tinubu has been fair to all in appointments and does not favour one religion over another.

“Let us remember that the President has been fair to all in terms of appointments and others. He doesn’t favour one religion over the other. Just look at the figures. So be careful about what people tell you,” he said.

Akume also told his audience that the president has shown his love for Benue State through significant projects.

“Let nobody deceive you; Asiwaju loves Benue, and he has displayed that in the number of significant projects the Federal Government is carrying out simultaneously in the state. These projects are diverse in healthcare, roads, education and others. This is being replicated throughout the federation. For example, in the area of education, over 65 per cent of NELFUND has been accessed, and most of them are from the North,” he said.

Taking a swipe at Atiku, he said, “Forget that other one making noise that he was going to remove fuel subsidy. He is always flip-flopping. He says something today and changes gear the next minute.”