Northern leaders back Tinubu for second term as they meet Yoruba Group eaders
lAhead of the 2027 General Elections, various geo-political leaders are forming alliances in support of their preferred candidates.
This is a time─pre-election period─when all political associates and friends come together in support of their favourite candidate as politics is known by many as ‘a game of number.’
On Mondays various leaders from the northern region of Nigeria paid courtesy visit to the leadership of the pan-Yoruba Socio-Political Organisation (Afenifere) to ensure their support, with South-West region, for the reelection bid of Nigeria’s incumbent president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The move came after a gathering in the Aso Villa few months ago when many leaders within the All Progressives Congress (APC) pledged their supports for the president ahead of 2027 presidential election.
The northern leaders, under the aegis of the Arewa Think Tank, said they were impressed with the midterm scorecard of the president, hence the move to support him to run for a second term.
Muhammad Yakubu, the convener of the syndicate, captained the team from the north to visit leaders of Afenifere at the abode of its National Leader, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, in Akure, Ondo State.
Yakubu revealed that the Think Tank group consisted professionals and experts from all 19 states of the north, with a former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Muktair Yero, as their chairman.
“So we are here today to renew our relationship with the South-West, to reassure the South-West that the North will stand by President Ahmed Tinubu and we want to also thank you (Fasoranti), sir, for the South-West to have given us a Nigerian president who has a vision, who has a mission, who has been doing well in the last two years, Yakubu said.
“We are also here to present to you (Fasoranti) his mid-term scorecard, President Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s impressive mid-term scorecard.
“We are very sure and very hopeful that he will take us to the promised land. We have seen in the last two years, we have seen what inter-regional collaboration and support can do and what he has done to move this country forward.
“We are happy with him. We are impressed with his scorecard so far and we want to renew this support and collaboration with the South-West.
“We also want to thank the South-West elders, particularly the Afeniferes.”
Speaking on behalf of Pa Reuben Fasoranti, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and monarch of Ilu Abo community in Ondo State, Oba Olu Falae lauded the visitors for their wish to collaborate with southerners in supporting the President Tinubu administration.
Falae expressed optimism that the president government would favour the entire country, amid the ongoing economic reforms introduced by the Tinubu administration.
“We thank God now that we have a civilian president who has demonstrated, first, his understanding of the problems of Nigeria and the courage to deal with those problems. We all knew that our subsidy was benefiting a gang of people who became billionaires at our expense.
“But they persuaded us that it was in the interest of the masses that we should stay. No government in the past had the courage to touch it. But Tinubu had the courage, and he did it.
“Secondly, as an economist, as a banker, I was horrified that Nigeria had about six different exchange rates. If you want to import raw materials, you’ve got a rate. If you want to subscribe to a professional society abroad, you’ve got a rate.
“If you are going on pilgrimage, you’ve got a rate. No country with multiple exchange rates is ever going to succeed or attract investments from abroad because people want to be certain what the exchange rate will be, first when they’re investing, and second, when they’re repatriating.
“Again, no government had the courage to touch those exchange rates. Tinubu had the courage to remove them.
“When he did so, many people screamed and shouted because it was painful. The price of petrol went up about ₦400 to ₦1,200 and the price of everything went up.
“It was a terrible, terrible hard time. But what he did was absolutely necessary. All I can say is that, if I was the one doing it with my experience, there were a few things I would have done before announcing those changes to minimise the negative effect.
“But we thank God things are getting better now. The prices of food are down,” Falae said.
Reactions trial Falae’s statement of support as many threw weight behind it and pledged their support to the president’s reelection in 2027.
In his remarks, the Organising Secretary of Afenifere, Abagun Kole Omololu, said the wishes of the northern leaders were a welcome development and expressed assurance that President Bola Tinubu would win the next presidential election.
President Bola Tinubu’s reelection bid is gathering momentum as it can be recalled that many politicians from other political parties are swapping and reneging their sworn oath to support his second term in office.
Despite stiff opposition, Tinubu’s support base will not wane, rather gathering without unstoppable force foreseen.
Questions are being asked, eyebrows raised and fingers crossed; waiting if President Bola Tinubu will make a return to Aso Villa come 2027.
As of now, Mr. Tinubu stands as a sole favourite to walk away with the victory, but not undermining the threat former president Goodluck Jonathan could pose if interested to run.
Candidly, 2027 Presidential election will be a ‘make or break’ for many aspiring politicians who see it as the last step in the staircase to greatness.
