Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, has criticised former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over his ambition to contest the 2027 presidential election.
The former governor of Benue State described the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as a pretender and warned that the move could undermine the collective political interests of Northern Nigeria.
Akume spoke yesterday in Kaduna with gloves in his hands, at a pre-campaign meeting with Benue State indigenes resident in the state.
He urged northerners to rally behind President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid, insisting that the region should wait until 2031 before seeking to return to the presidency.
The SGF argued that individual presidential ambitions should not be allowed to disrupt the power-rotation arrangement between the North and South, which he said had helped sustain Nigeria’s unity and territorial integrity.
“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.
Akume maintained that the North stood to gain more by supporting Tinubu for a second term than by pursuing competing political ambitions that could divide the region and weaken its collective influence ahead of the next general election.
He also defended the president’s record on political appointments and religious inclusiveness, urging northerners not to be swayed by what he described as misleading narratives about the administration.
“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,” Akume said.
The former Benue State governor further faulted Atiku’s position on fuel subsidy, accusing the former vice-president of inconsistency.
“Forget that other one making noise that he was going to remove fuel subsidies. He is always flip-flopping. He says something today and changes gear the next minute,” he said.
Akume argued that the political understanding reached by Nigerian leaders on the rotation of presidential power should remain a guiding principle in managing the country’s political differences.
He recalled that the agreement reached in Kaduna was designed to preserve national cohesion and ensure a sense of inclusion among the country’s diverse political constituencies.
“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 a power shift, and that is what has kept this country going,” he said.
Akume also cited federal government projects in Benue State, covering healthcare, roads and education, as evidence of Tinubu’s commitment to the state.