A former Senator representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District, Shehu Sani, has weighed in on the debate surrounding President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027.
According to Sani, the constitution guarantees every Nigerian the right to contest elections, stressing that any region can contest.
In an interview with our correspondents in Kaduna State on Thursday, he noted that the 2027 election should be contested by candidates from the Southern part of the country, allowing the North to produce the president in 2031.
“From my point of view, the issue of the 2027 election should be left for the South to contest; whether it is President Bola Tinubu, Peter Obi or ex-President Goodluck Jonathan. And then, the North now has the legitimate right to contest and be allowed to produce the president in 2031,” he said.
He noted that it’d be fair for the North to support the current president because he (Tinubu) was there for them when needed most.
“Asiwaju (Tinubu) is a product of the North and is reciprocal for what he has also done for northern Nigeria. Buhari had contested for the presidency for so long a time but it was only when he allied with Tinubu that he emerged.
“So, Tinubu took for the North at a time that they needed him most and it is time for them (the North) to stand for him. After all, when he is done, the north will now have the opportunity to produce a president from the North-East, North-West or North-central,” he added
Sani, a human rights activist, also suggested that Tinubu’s camp should focus on good governance, addressing insecurity, poverty, and education in the North to ensure his re-election in 2027.
He emphasised that the desperation of some northern political elites to return to power was not in the interest of the North but driven by personal reasons.
Sani further noted that Tinubu could get a second term in 2027 without the full support of the North, citing his victory in the previous election despite not winning in key northern states like Kaduna, Kano and Adamawa.
He, however, hoped that the political elite in the North would respect the principle of rotation of power and allow the South to complete their 8 years in office before the North produced the president in 2031.
The former lawmaker said, “The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria guarantees that every Nigerian can contest election. Any region can contest the election. That’s what the Constitution says.
“I believe that the 2027 election should be left for the South to contest. And then the North will now have the legitimate right to contest and be allowed to produce the president in 2031.
“It is in the interest of national unity and peace that southern Nigeria be allowed to complete their eight years in office and then it will rotate back to the north in 2031.”
Sani noted that if Tinubu would “succeed in addressing the security situation, education and poverty in Northern Nigeria, no northern elite will stop him from getting re-elected in 2027.
“The desperation to return to power in 2027 by some northern political elites is not in the interest of the North but simply on personal reason, having some of them being schemed out.
“I believe that he will get re-elected. The resentment against Asiwaju (Tinubu) from the north now stems from the fact of the economic situation we are facing in the country, and I believe that if that issue is addressed, he will still regain those whom he had lost.”
