2027: Ganduje Dismisses Claims North Won’t Vote Tinubu

Chuks Okocha and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

A former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, yesterday dismissed claims that the North will turn its back on President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general election, describing such assumptions as misguided and detached from political realities.

This comes as a chieftain of the APC, Farouk Aliyu, yesterday expressed concerns that a Christian-Christian presidential ticket would likely alienate Muslim voters in the North, saying the region wouldn’t be comfortable with such a combination. Aliyu spoke yesterday, on ‘The Morning Show,’ on ARISE NEWS Channel, while weighing in on the debate about the ruling party’s Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket that produced President Bola Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima in 2023.

According to Ganduje, those holding such thought are making “a big mistake.”Ganduje stated this in Abuja, when a delegation of the Northern Nigeria Youth Leaders from the 19 states of the North paid him a courtesy visit and decorated him as the patron of the Forum.The former Kano State Governor declared that there was no better candidate to govern Nigeria beyond 2027 from the south than Tinubu.

Ganduje revealed that there was an agreement even before the election of the late President Muhammadu Buhari that after eight years of his government, a southerner would emerge.He stated: “Pertaining to the next election in 2027, those who are nursing or thinking otherwise that the North will vote for another candidate other than Asiwaju are making a big mistake.

“This is the first time Nigeria as a nation is lucky to have a politician as President. His constituency is politics; his upbringing is politics because he believes in the unity of this country. In fact, he struggled; he was even in exile for democracy to survive in Nigeria. So there is no better person to be elected in 2027 than Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“Asiwaju has only been there for less than four years now, and we have seen the measures, the reforms that he undertook. The reforms that he introduced to improve the social economic development of this country.”Speaking on some of the bold reforms the current administration has undertaken, Ganduje noted that all the candidates who contested with him in 2023 promised to remove fuel subsidy.

Ganduje added: “Even the previous government promised to remove the subsidy but nobody was bold enough to do that job but, Asiwaju has succeeded in removing the subsidy and now all the state Governors, irrespective of their political leaning, they believe they are getting more and more funds for the development of their respective states.“He did not say that he removed subsidy because he wanted to improve the APC governors, but he did it for the nation. So, this President has undertaken measures that will improve the economy of this country.”

While assuring the Northern Nigeria Youth Leaders of his support for the organisation, Ganduje commended them for their boldness not only to mobilise votes for the re-election of Asiwaju but to also raise money to purchase his nomination forms.He added, “There’s no better commitment than this, you are contributing funds, you are also contributing your brain, you are contributing your energy and you are contributing your time to ensure the re-election of Asiwaju, I have to thank you for this.”Earlier, the National Leader of the group, Murtala Gamji, who described Ganduje as a role model, added that as a governor, Ganduje made him one of the most popular youth leaders through his support.

“We are here to tell you that wherever you focus that’s where we go with you. We have all agreed to support the re-election of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu by massively mobilizing all the youths in the 19 Northern states and to raise funds to buy his nomination form ahead of the election.

“We have to do this because some people are insinuating that the North will not vote for Asiwaju in 2027, but that’s a lie because nobody has supported us in the North like Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu,”Gamji declared.

North Will Not Accept Christian-Christian Ticket , Says APC Chieftain

Meanwhile, a chieftain of the APC, Farouk Aliyu, yesterday expressed concerns that a Christian-Christian presidential ticket would likely alienate Muslim voters in the North, saying the region wouldn’t be comfortable with such a combination.

Speaking on ARISE NEWS Channel, he said: “In my opinion, the numbers will be looked at whether to field a Muslim or a Christian; the numbers are there to show.

“Whether in the northern part of the country there are more Muslims? It is absolutely without doubt that there are more Muslims. So any party can decide to field a Christian, but if it goes in terms of numbers, certainly there are more Muslims in the North, which is the best for the party to take a Muslim.”

He cautioned that replacing a Muslim candidate with a Christian in the North could create electoral difficulties for the ruling party.

“Certainly, if you drop a Muslim for a Christian in the North, you’ll have a problem,” he said.

Aliyu also argued that the controversies that greeted the Muslim-Muslim ticket in 2023 have largely faded, insisting that Christians are not being marginalised under the Tinubu administration.

“This government has got nothing to show on the ground that it’s favouring the Muslims over Christians,” he said.

“So, I think the Muslim-Muslim ticket can still fly with the APC,” he added.

Responding to questions on whether the North would support a Christian-Christian presidential ticket, the APC chieftain ruled out such a possibility.

“Based on the North I know, the North will not be comfortable with a Christian-Christian ticket because if you do that you’re completely alienating the Muslims in the North,” Aliyu said.