Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has responded to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, for saying that the North should wait until 2031 to contest the Presidential election.

Atiku, who was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the 2023 elections, stated that President Tinubu?s performance showed he did not deserve another term, saying, ?God forbid.?

He noted that Nigerians would decide who will be their President in 2027.

Akume, while answering questions on a television interview had said, ?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.?

But reacting in a post on his official X handle, the spokesman to Atiku, Paul Ibe wondered ?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!? he wrote. (Courtesy, excluding headline, Daily Trust)

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