{SPECIAL REPORT} Tinubu tasks Shettima, Ganduje, as North moves to stop his re-election

By KEMI KASUMU, OUR REPORTER

This is because, like the politician they are defending without considering the feelings of the people, not governance but politics matters to them and so they can go to hell and they will still win. But we shall see how they will achieve that come 2027. The Northern people are not fools.

As the 2027 presidential election approaches, President Bola Tinubu has reportedly initiated efforts to win back the support of Northern politicians, who have expressed dissatisfaction with his administration.

A Northern politician, who spoke in a media interview with one of Nigeria’s local newspapers on condition of anonymity, disclosed that Vice President Kashim Shettima and APC National Chairman Abdullahi Ganduje have been tasked with reaching out to aggrieved Northern stakeholders.

This move comes after several Northern political figures voiced concerns about the Tinubu administration’s perceived neglect of Northern interests.

A respondent, however, knocked the Shettima/Ganduje’s presidential assignment saying, “Tinubu will have thought the North is a complete fool to think that, after using Muslim-Muslim ticket to decieve us even though we are never anti-Christian, he can come back again to re-enact his sweetmouthing to say he can do what? Not again!”

Key issues raised by Northern politicians include alleged marginalisation in Federal appointments and governance.

These concerns have led to significant discontent with some Northern leaders openly expressing regret for supporting Tinubu during the 2023 presidential election.

This was coming as the respondent even wondered that President Tinubu could now, by the task given to Shettima and Ganduje, confirm that truly whereas he should focus on governance it another election of next four years he started playing when he just started the first four years tenure.

Those in the Tinubu’s camp, because they are so much certain their principal now has too much powers, believe there is nothing the North can do to stop his re-election in 2027.

According to the media report, the source believed to be among the Tinubu’s men said, “Some political bigwigs were interested in certain positions but were not given them, and they have resorted to working against Asiwaju’s return, which is not good. But that does not bring any fear to Asiwaju’s camp.

“To be a little more open, Vice President Kashim Shettima, the National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Ganduje, and I are all from the North.

“We are reaching out to the aggrieved stakeholders, and we are also accessible. We are critical stakeholders who hold ground for Asiwaju in the North. We will reach out to everyone; it is a collective effort.”

Recall that last week, the Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed, had also lent his voice to the agitation for a Northern leader in 2027, vowing to jettison his presidential ambition if former President Goodluck Jonathan agreed to contest.

According to him, the former president has the requisite experience to revamp the economy and would do a good job if given a second mandate to manage the country.

But a former Minister of Communication and prominent APC chieftain, Adebayo Shittu, said Nigerians should be wary of such moves.

He said, “If you are calling for a change in government, you still have to wait until the current one runs its term. Now, you are even calling on Jonathan to come back. He, just like others, is free to return and contest election in 2027. But certainly, there won’t be any election before then and there cannot be any change of government.

“If Jonathan has done very well, Nigerians won’t have voted him out after spending about six years in office. Tell me, if the PDP had done very well, would the people have voted them out? Nigerians only voted them out after their term expired.”

A former lawmaker, who represented Kaduna Central between 2015 and 2019, Senator Shehu Sani, warned against the desperation of some Northern elites to return to power.

He said, “If President Tinubu succeeds in addressing the security situation, education and poverty in Northern Nigeria, no Northern elite will stop him from being 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 is driven by personal reasons, as some of them have been schemed out. So, they often turn to a sectional agenda when their own personal interests are affected.”

A former Minister of State for Works and National Coordinator of South-West Agenda for Asiwaju, Prince Adedayo Adeyeye, according to the media report, said Tinubu had “sufficient loyalists on his side to confront any opposition coming from any angle.”

He said, “I believe that by the time we approach 2027, Nigerians will know that the president will win his second term as president,” he added.

An anonymous speaker, reacting to the confidence of Tinubu and his marketers, said, “It is normal and understandable for you to see the likes of Adebayo Shittu and Dayo Adeyeye, both senior and junior ministers of the Federal Republic, speak the way they did.

“This is because, like the politician they are defending without considering the feelings of the people, not governance but politics matters to them and so they can go to hell and they will still win. But we shall see how they will achieve that come 2027. The Northern people are not fools.

“If governance matters to Tinubu, he could not have been failing since day one in office and still continues to fail even one year five months and he confidently and boastfully tells Nigerians he has plunged into untold hardship that he must win an election that is four years away from the first day in office when he started playing the politics of 2027 with all attempts he made against winner of Kano State election and now backing a two-Emirship system in Kano just because of self.

“That was why I was surprised that he called independence of the judiciary while swearing in the new Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun on Friday.

“Tinubu does not need to call for judiciary independence because his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, had already done that by an Executive Order. They are both of the same APC and he should just ensure he let the judiciary breathe for peace, justice and security to reign in our country.

“Otherwise, how did it happen under him that the Court of Appeal have a judgment and contradicted itself in the judgment until the Supreme Court of Nigeria settled it in favour of duly elected Governors of Kano, Zamfara, Rivers and Bauchi State?

“Our nation is going bad because we have politicians who are tampering with our justice system pretending to be tge most just in the society,” he said.