AS the anti-Tinubu coalition, headed by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, gathers momentum in the North, elder statesman, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, has said the North alone cannot determine who emerges as president in 2027.
This came as the League of Northern Democrats, yesterday, said the mission of the group is not in seizing power but fixing the country.
It will be recalled that former Special Adviser on Political Matters to President Bola Tinubu, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, recently declared that the North will soon define its political direction, ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Baba-Ahmed had stressed that no politician can win the Nigerian presidency without support from the Northern region.
“No politician can become president without Northern support, making the region’s stance crucial to any aspirant’s success,” he had said.
However, Yakassai, a former Liaison Officer to late President Shehu Shagari and founding member of Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, who spoke with Vanguard, noted that neither the North nor the South could determine who emerges Nigeria’s president.
Speaking against the backdrop of growing coalition against the Tinubu Presidency, Yakassai said: “The presidential election is a national affair. Any presidential election is a national issue, the North alone cannot determine who becomes President; the South alone cannot make it. The South and North must come together with a formidable candidate to get it done.
“When I mean a formidable candidate, it means apart from someone with the popularity, he must have the financial clout. Elections in Nigeria now involve a lot of money. Unfortunately, people with money in Nigeria do not like to sponsor any candidate. You must have enough money to put yourself there but don’t rely on others.”
Emphasising his earlier position, Yakasai declared that though the North plays a critical role in the emergence of a president, it cannot make the decision alone.
The elder statesman said: “Like I said, the North alone cannot decide who becomes President in 2027 but it will play a very important role because of its numbers. Of course, other factors will make it possible for a presidential candidate to emerge and win elections in this country. Those factors include acceptability and support by the stakeholders.”
Speaking on the issue in an interview with Vanguard last night, the National Publicity Secretary of Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, Prof. Tukur Mohammed Baba, said the forum had no control over who would win the presidential election noting that no one could be president on the basis of regional voting alone.
He said: ‘’In 2027, ACF views the statement as a personal opinion of Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed to which he is entitled. Whether or not it will come to pass, we don’t know.
‘’ACF as an organisation has no control over that. But we do know that no one can be president on the basis solely of regional voting alone, as the constitutional requirements require what is essentially a pan-regional spread of support at some minimum level.
‘’Again, whatever anyone thinks, it is the voter, if allowed to vote without interference, manipulation or other electoral malfeasance, that will determine the outcome. So basically, we need to wait to see how things eventually pan out.
Recall that on March 20, 2025, the former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar announced the formation of a coalition of opposition political parties to oust President Tinubu in 2027.
Atiku, who spoke at a press conference at the Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja, had said: “Yes, this is the birth of the coalition of opposition ahead of 2027.”
However, the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, said the coalition being put together by Atiku has disintegrated.
Onanuga said: “Atiku’s political future looks bleak. The coalition that he, El-Rufai, Babachir, and new member Baba-Ahmed are cobbling together has disintegrated.”
Though some stakeholders believe the Atiku coalition might have hit the rocks, they argued that it remains a Northern affair.
Multiple sources, who confided in Vanguard, said this had led President Tinubu to aggressively build his support base in the South-South and South-East zones.
The aggressive drive led Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, his predecessor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa and other PDP stakeholders to defect to the APC in Delta State.
Anti-Tinubu coalition seen as a Northern affair
One of the sources said: “The anti-Tinubu coalition is viewed as a Northern affair, most people are of the view that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, are the drivers of the coalition and that is why Tinubu is very aggressive with his defection drive.
“Don’t forget that he went to Katsina State to see the troops and also meet with some Northern leaders. There is this perception that the north is against him (Tinubu) and that is why he is doing everything possible to build his support base in the South-South and South-East.”
Another source told Vanguard that though the All Progressives Congress, APC, controls 15 states in the North, the Presidency is tightening its grip to prevent any of the governors from working against the President in 2027.
He said: “You know the APC has 15 states in the North and I don’t see them working against their party except they engage in anti-party activities in 2027 due to the Northern agenda. The North cannot be trusted on this.
“As for Atiku, I know he would defect and this has been confirmed by his former running mate, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, though he has not disclosed which party he will join.”
We’re not after power but fixing Nigeria—League of Northern Democrats
Also lending its voice to the coalition, the League of Northern Democrats has said its mission wasn’t gaining power but fixing Nigeria.Convener of LND, Umar Ardo, said the mission of the group is to rescue Nigeria from deepening decline.
Ardo, who featured on Arise Television yesterday, stated that LND is neither a political party, nor is its agenda simply to unseat the current administration.
While insisting that the group’s ultimate goal is national transformation, he said: “Our agenda is to re-fix our country or to, at least, give Nigeria a shot at becoming a fully developed nation-state.
“We want to be part of a coalition that can successfully challenge and displace incumbency not because of power itself, but because we need to fix Nigeria. The country is drained. We are a fully black nation, and we are supposed to be the mirror of the black man across the world. We have the people that can do it. We only fail to have the government that can do it.”
Asked if President Tinubu has failed, Ardo said: “I won’t say he has failed, but he hasn’t met expectations.”
Pressed on whether Tinubu should be allowed to complete his term, Ardo said: “It’s not time. So the president is barely half of his time in office and we have not seen a shift in policies and implementation.”
Coalition remains on course — Atiku’s aide
Clarifying the aims of the coalition, an aide to the former Vice President, who spoke to Vanguard on the condition of anonymity, said the coalition remains on course.
The aide said: “They are still working on it and that is why they are taking their time so that it will not look as if they did not consult widely before moving out.
“The thing is that the coalition managers are working on a theory that the governors are the establishment people and they do not necessarily need to start from them. They are working with a theory that when they start from the bottom, which is a mass movement, it would create the necessary momentum, the governors would then come on board.
“They are not starting with the governors. The governors are not the building blocks for the coalition.”
Asked whether the gale of defections will not upset the coalition, he said: “It is not upsetting the coalition’s plan in any way because the coalition is not looking at the governors as the building blocks.”