By Ismail Omipidan
Many leaders in the North as well as their followers, investigations reveal, believe that President Tinubu does not like the region and its people. Asked why the North believes so, the source said “based on appointments and projects spread, we believe that Mr. President does not have our interest at heart. Whenever Mr. President is making normal appointments, say 10, he will give eight to his Lagos boys, not even the South-West, one to North-Central and the remaining one to other parts of the North.
Mr. President is trying to use the North-Central against us. We are also trying to see if we can re-enact our political partnership with the South-South. The South-South is angry because they believe that the Senate President is serving a personal interest with the position and not that of the region.
“Since our traditional rulers are involved, I believe it will work out. Our traditional rulers became angry following President Tinubu’s stance on his tax reform, where he appears unwilling to listen. The politics is like that of Sardauna/Awolowo, where the Awoists term anyone who supports or vote for a Northerner, a bastard. That is the same thing going on in the North. They are already sounding it in Islamic schools that Mr. President is not a good Muslim,” the source added. It was further learnt that other Muslim sects in the North are equally bitter with President Tinubu for what they termed his “use and dump,” strategy. In the build up to the 2023 presidential election, they argued, he used different sources to reach out and he reached out to everyone without exception. But today, they claim, President Tinubu only hobnobs with the Izallah group.
“Izallah group is not the largest in the North. Yes, we imbibe their principles, we are not necessarily Izallah. The Derika/Tijjaniyyah sect has the largest followership in Nigeria. He is also not utilising his Vice President well. If he (President) is not careful, he would lose Borno. He lost Yobe the last time and you know, Borno/Yobe go in the same direction most of the time. He won Zamfara the last time.
“With a PDP governor in place now, he may lose Zamfara. You know, Bafarawa (former Sokoto Governor) initially said he was stepping aside from active politics. But as I speak to you, he is planning to join the SDP. Have you heard the Speaker (of the House of Representatives) say anything? He doesn’t want to go against the North. All these are part of the grand design to dislodge him (Tinubu). We are preparing to match him resources for resources, security for security,” the politician said.
Coalitions against Southern Presidents since 1999
In the build up to the 1999 election, the then leaders of Nigeria decided that the presidency would be rotating between the North and the South. They went ahead to insist that it must also be General Olusegun Obasanjo that would kick-start the arrangement.
In that election, only two candidates contested and the two were Southerners from the South-West. They are Chief Olu Falae and Obasanjo. However, before the end of former President Obasanjo’s first tenure, he fell out with the major stakeholders that brought him to power, including General Theophilus Danjuma (rtd). They mobilised against him, and urged Buhari to run against him in 2003. Buhari did, but Obasanjo triumphed with the support of Northern governors, who though belonged to the opposition, worked against Buhari in support of Obasanjo.
After the death of former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in 2010, majority of the stakeholders in the North believed that former President Goodluck Jonathan should just complete the term and give way for another Northerner in 2011. But Obasanjo and many others within the PDP objected to the proposal. The North came up with a consensus candidate, in person of Atiku to compete against Jonathan for the PDP ticket. Obasanjo enlisted the support of the then Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido and that of Adamawa, Murtala Nyako, to defeat Atiku at the PDP’s primary.
However, by 2015, Obasanjo joined forces with the North to stop Jonathan’s re-election bid. Can they repeat the same feat in 2027? It seems only time will tell.
For now, Buhari appears to be maintaining a dignified silence. But his recent relocation to Kaduna, from Daura, is being interpreted in some quarters to mean his readiness for party politics. If he decides to support President Tinubu publicly, it would weaken the base of the opposition in the North. Should he, however decide to speak against the Tinubu’s administration, it will be worse for President Tinubu. For now, therefore, Buhari remains President Tinubu’s buffer in the North.
