The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Senator George Akume declared yesterday that any northerner seeking to contest the 2027 presidential election is an enemy of the North.
He insisted that President Bola Tinubu must be allowed to complete a second term before power returns to the region in 2031.
Akume warned that the personal ambitions of politicians seeking to challenge Tinubu in 2027 must not be allowed to undermine the existing understanding on power rotation between the North and South or threaten the country’s political stability.
The SGF spoke in Kaduna during a pre-campaign meeting with a large gathering of Benue State citizens resident in the state.
He urged Northerners to unite behind the President’s re-election bid rather than support politicians whose ambitions could jeopardise the region’s long-term political interests.
‘Anybody who is from the North and running for the presidency is an enemy of the North. Don’t allow that pretender to deceive you. It is not yet our turn. The North’s turn is in 2031. Prepare to vote for Tinubu. Do not allow anyone to destroy the country because of a vaunting personal ambition’ Akume was quoted as saying by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity Yomi Odunuga.
Continuing the SGF said:’Let us remember that the President has been fair to all in terms of appointments and others. He doesn’t favour one religion over the other. Just look at the figures. So be careful about what people tell you.’
The former Benue State governor recalled that the understanding on power rotation between the North and South was reached in Kaduna stressing that the arrangement has contributed significantly to national unity and the preservation of Nigeria’s territorial integrity.
‘Remember that it was in this same Kaduna State that we agreed on power rotation between the North and the South. You cannot doubt the credentials of those that reached this agreement at that time and it was done to keep this country together. We agreed on power shift and that is what has kept this country going. That is what has retained our territorial integrity’ he explained.
Akume also took a swipe at an unnamed political opponent of the President accusing him of inconsistency over the removal of fuel subsidy and warning Nigerians against being misled by politicians whose positions on major national issues frequently changed.
‘Forget that other one making noise that he was going to remove fuel subsidy. He is always flip- flopping. He says something today and changes gear the next minute’ the SGF said.
He defended the Tinubu administration’s performance particularly its distribution of federal appointments and execution of development projects across the country arguing that the President had demonstrated fairness to different regions and religious groups.
Akume specifically cited ongoing federal projects in Benue State including interventions in healthcare road infrastructure and education as evidence of the administration’s commitment to the welfare of the people. He also claimed that over 65 per cent of access to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has been recorded in the North.
‘Let nobody deceive you Asiwaju loves Benue and he has displayed that in the number of significant projects the Federal Government is carrying out simultaneously in the state. These projects are diverse in healthcare roads education and others’ he said.
The SGF who described Kaduna as a historic centre of Northern political cooperation commended Governor Uba Sani for promoting unity and inclusive leadership urging Benue indigenes resident in the state to support his administration and re-election.
He said effective leadership required the ability to accommodate people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds recalling his experience as governor of Benue State and stressing that peaceful coexistence remained fundamental to national development.
Akume urged Northern political stakeholders to resist attempts to divide the region along ethnic religious and personal lines maintaining that unity cooperation and respect for existing political agreements were essential to sustaining the North’s influence in national affairs.
Among the dignitaries who accompanied the SGF were former Jigawa State Governor Alhaji Saminu Turaki; former Minister of Women Affairs Dame Pauline Tallen; Senator Abu Ibrahim; Minister of Water Resources Professor Joseph Utsev; and Minister of Steel Development Prince Shuaibu Abubakar Audu.