2027 presidency: Nigerians will decide, Atiku replies Akume

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, stated that there is a six-year difference in the length of time the North and South have held the presidency.

Atiku made this remark on Monday in response to the call by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, urging Northerners interested in the presidency to wait until 2031.

The former Vice President, in a statement by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, said that by 2027, the South will have had 17 years of leadership.

Recall that, while appearing on a TVC program, Akume urged northern political leaders preparing to run for the 2027 presidency to put aside their ambitions and wait until 2031, when President Bola Tinubu would have finished his second term.

Akume stated, “President Tinubu, as a Southerner, should be allowed to have a second term, meaning that those eyeing the presidency from the North in 2027 should look beyond that year by waiting till 2031.

“If it is the will of God for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to be President of Nigeria, even at the age of 90 years, he can get it. But he and other Northerners eyeing the office now should look beyond 2027.”

Reacting, Atiku stated, “Where, then, does true equity and fairness reside? By the year 2027, the South will have enjoyed 17 years of leadership—eight years under Obasanjo, five years under Jonathan, and four years under Tinubu—while the North will have experienced only 11 years, with Yar’Adua serving three and Buhari eight.

“This results in a disparity of six years between the North and South, casting a shadow over the balance of power.

“In any case, the power to elect and vote out their government lies firmly with the Nigerian people, entrusted to them upon the government’s ability to prove itself worthy of the people’s ballot. But has the Tinubu government demonstrated that it deserves to be re-elected? The answer, alas, is as clear as the heavens themselves—God forbid.”