The Arewa Consultative Forum, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, and other stakeholders attacked the Presidency for stating that President Bola Tinubu would stay in power till 2031.

Instead of obsessing over the 2027 election, the ACF admonished the Tinubu administration to focus on delivering good governance to Nigerians.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, stirred the hornet?s nest on Sunday when he urged northern political leaders preparing to run for the 2027 Presidency to put aside their ambitions and wait until 2031 when President Tinubu would have ended his second term.

Speaking on a TVC programme, the SGF 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, he can get it. But he and other northerners eyeing the office now should look beyond 2027.?

However, responding to Akume?s statement, the ACF National Publicity Secretary, Prof. Tukur Muhammad-Baba, told The PUNCH in an interview in Kaduna on Monday that it was too early to start debating the 2027 Presidency.

Mohammad-Baba emphasised that the ACF won?t take a partisan stance on who should be voted for or against, noting that its primary concern was the wellbeing of the electorate.

?So far, we have not issued any stand one way or the other on the issue. We thought concentration should be on good governance and delivery of services to the electorate,? he said.

While the ACF did not explicitly endorse or reject Akume?s statement, Muhammad-Baba argued that the talk about the 2027 Presidency was a distraction from the more pressing issues facing the country.

He said, ?Our position is that it?s too early to debate the 2027 Presidency. We think the focus should be on good governance and the delivery of good dividends of democracy to the people.

?This talk of 2027 is too early, and it?s a distraction to the dialogue that should be taking place. Is democracy paying off for the people? Should the government do something for the people? This is what should preoccupy the minds of Nigerians, not the 2027 Presidency.?

Reacting to Akume?s stance, ex-Vice President Atiku, who lost the 2023 presidential poll to Tinubu, argued that there was a six-year difference in the length of time the North and South have held the Presidency.

Atiku, in a statement by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, said that by 2027, the South will have had 17 years of leadership.

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

The PDP described 2027 as a rescue mission, adding that no individual could halt another person?s political ambition.

PDP Deputy National Youth Leader, Timothy Osadolor, slammed Akume for attempting to undermine the ambitions of others for the benefit of President Tinubu.

In an interview with The PUNCH, Osadolor stated, ?Such an unfortunate statement could only have been made by someone benefiting from the maladministration of the current Presidency, as led by President Bola Tinubu.

?I won?t blame George Akume; he has always lived a privileged life, from being a senator, governor, and now the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. So, I am sure he?s one of those who have alienated President Tinubu from the realities with lies and praise singing. They have disconnected the President from the current realities in Nigeria.

?I won?t blame George Akume because I don?t know when he last visited the market in Benue, not to mention other parts of Nigeria, as he lives on taxpayers? money and is unaware that people are suffering.?

Osadolor stated that by 2027, Nigerians would have the opportunity to restore and rebuild the country.

He stated, ?It is most unfortunate for anyone to want to shut down the ambition of another, irrespective of what part of the country the person is from. This is a democracy, and as democrats, we are all committed to good governance in this country. We are committed to having the best of us represent all of us. Nobody can stop another person?s ambition.

?No person has the right or should arrogate such powers to themselves simply because they are benefiting from one corner or another of the system. Come 2027, it will be a mission to rescue, rebuild, and revive Nigeria.

?Come 2027, the people of Nigeria will have the authority to rehabilitate and rebuild the country. Therefore, it requires all well-meaning Nigerians, irrespective of where they are from, to come forward. We will look at the best of them, support them, and whoever among them emerges, it is our prayer and sincere desire that Nigerians?who have endured the last 8 to 12 years of the APC monstrosity called governance ? rally around that person so that Nigeria can be saved and rebuilt.?

Responding to Akume?s statement, PDP spokesman, Debo Ologunagba, averred that the party would trounce the APC in 2027, the same way the National Democratic Congress ousted the ruling party in Ghana?s presidential election on Saturday.

Ologunagba, in a statement on Monday, described Ghana?s opposition NDC victory as a clear example of the people?s power prevailing over misrule and oppressive government policies.

Former President John Mahama was declared winner of the country?s presidential election after his main opponent, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, admitted defeat.

Reacting, Ologunagba stated, ?The Peoples Democratic Party congratulates the people of Ghana for their resilience in defending democracy and ensuring that their will prevailed in the Saturday, December 7, 2024, presidential election, which returned the National Democratic Congress and President John Mahama to power.

?The victory of democracy on the platform of the opposition NDC is a clear demonstration of the triumph of the power of the people over misrule and oppressive policies of government as now being witnessed in Nigeria under the corrupt, rudderless and insensitive All Progressives Congress.

?The verdict of the people of Ghana in this presidential election is a signal to the APC that its days in office are numbered as the power of the people in Nigeria, just like in Ghana, will surely prevail, end APC?s oppressive rule and return Nigeria to the path of good governance, security, political stability and economic prosperity on the platform of the PDP in 2027.?

The PDP regretted that Nigeria, ?once a prosperous nation and a preferred destination for international foreign investment and one of the world?s fastest-growing economies, has been reduced to ruins by the APC.?

It noted, ?It is intolerable that the APC has in the last nine and half years wrecked our collective patrimony, opened our country to terrorists, resulting in the killing of over 65,000 Nigerians; destroyed the creative abilities of our youths; plunged our naira from about N197 under the PDP to nearly N2,000 to the dollar with over 34 per cent inflation rate and crippled our productive sectors leading to over 40 per cent unemployment rate.

?It mortgaged the future of our country through reckless borrowing, foisted repressive policies including the rise in the cost of petrol from N97 per litre under the PDP to over N1,000 today and subjected Nigerians to misery where millions of families can no longer afford their daily meals and other necessities of life.?

The publicity secretary emphasised that what was even more troubling was that while Nigerians endured immense hardship, the APC leaders were allegedly indifferent and unaccountable, imposing severe taxes on the citizens.

?Nigerians now recall with nostalgia and earnestly seek a return of the golden years of the PDP in government as their only hope for survival and triumph of their dreams, aspiration and collective Will as a people.

?The PDP therefore calls on all institutions of government, especially the Independent National Electoral Commission and security agencies, to note the yearning of Nigerians and ensure that all processes are put in place to guarantee that only the will of the people prevail in elections.

?INEC must note that Nigerians are not ready to accept a repeat of the massive manipulation and perversion of the electoral process as witnessed in the 2019 and 2023 presidential elections in our country.?

The camp of the Labour Party presidential flag bearer in 2023, Peter Obi, cautioned Akume not to heat the polity ?with his display of partisan politics.?

This was disclosed by Obi?s spokesman and the National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement Worldwide, Yunusa Tanko, in a phone interview with The PUNCH.

The former Anambra governor said it was not for Akume to decide who occupied the presidential office in 2027.

He said, ?It is not up to the SGF to say whether there is a vacancy in 2027 or not. The Nigerian people, who are tired of the hardship, inflation and economic challenges, will be the ones to decide that. And the truth is that they cannot stop the Nigerian people. It is their decision to make.?

However, the Middle Belt Forum backed the SGF, insisting that it was in the interest of fairness, justice and equity for the South to retain the Presidency for eight years after the North had completed eight years.

In an interview with The PUNCH on Monday, the National President of the MBF, Dr. Bitrus Pogu, noted, ?We are supporting the SGF in this matter. We believe in equity, fairness and justice .2027 doesn?t have to be Tinubu.

?If the North had eight years of Buhari, let the South also have eight years of whoever from the South. So, let the northern contestants be patient and let?s wait for another southern contestant to come out.

?If the people want Tinubu to continue, let him continue but if Nigerians feel that another person should complete the eight years, so be it, but the South must be allowed to complete the eight years in the interest of fairness and justice.?

Speaking in the same vein, the leader of a socio-cultural group in Benue State, Mdzough U Tiv, Ochi?KIdoma and Om?Igede, retired Comptroller of Prison, Iorbee Ihagh, said Tinubu deserved a second term in office, stressing that.

According to him, after Tinubu, power should move to the north central by 2031, in the spirit of fairness and equity.

He said, ?Though Akume is a politician while I?m a socio-cultural leader, President Tinubu is doing better than Buhari, so, there is nothing bad if he continues in office till 2031.

?I have been saying this, that Middle Belt should be allowed to produce the next President of Nigeria for fairness and justice because, the core North has produced the number one citizen. So, if Tinubu chooses to go for a second term in 2027, we will support him.?

Ihagh called on President Tinubu to improve security in the North Central by ensuring that all armed herders who had occupied some territories in the region were driven away.

?You know that the majority of our people in North Central, especially Benue State, are farmers but these people (herders) have taken over our lands, so the President should give an order to drive away these armed herders to allow our people return to their ancestral homes,? Ihagh pleaded.

Meanwhile, Abdullahi Koli, a running mate to Professor Peter Umeadi, of the All Progressives Grand Alliance in the 2023 general election, disapproved of the comments attributed to the SGF, describing it as his political assertion.

The APGA chieftain said Akume must be daydreaming, stating ?If we go by the history of the PDP, the party was once agitating that it would lead for 60 years.

?PDP has tried, and that is why thereafter they now find it difficult to resolve themselves. The zoning has been a devil for them and they now can?t make it.?

Meanwhile, reactions have continued to trail the prediction by a former National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, that Tinubu would be a one-term President.

Ologbondiyan posited in a recent interview that following the hardship, inflation and other economic problems brought about by his reforms, Nigerians would reject Tinubu in the 2027 election.

Reacting, the National Publicity Secretary, New Nigeria People?s Party, Ladipo Johnson, said Ologbondiyan had spoken the minds of many Nigerians ?who are still reeling under the excruciating pain of the President?s reforms and can?t wait for him to leave office.?

According to him, democracy thrives when there is a viable opposition and the APC needs to understand that.

He added, ?This should be an economy flowing with milk and honey. This government should be working towards that. If they did, the majority of the masses wouldn?t believe Ologbondiyan.

?But right now, it is easy for Nigerians to look at things and conclude that the government is not pushing us in the right direction. At the moment, many of us intend to make him (Tinubu) a one-term President so that our people will not continue to suffer economic hardship.

?But when he knows that the people want him to be a one-term president if it were to be a proper democracy, he would hit the reset button and put more effort into his programmes to ensure they are working for the people.

?There is nothing wrong when the opposition says you should be a one-term President, it should even inspire you to be better. Frankly, it is the party in power that needs to understand the tenets of democracy and let the opposition do their work.?

But the APC waved off Ologbodiyan?s statement as the ranting of people who were still embittered by the loss of the 2023 presidential election.

The National Publicity Director of the APC, Bala Ibrahim, said, ?There is no doubt. There is pain in the land. But I think it is easy to also say most of these people who lost elections have anger, which is turning into hunger. That is why they are complaining. Even the President has admitted it because of the reforms.

?However, it is not a pain that is going to last forever. It is the kind of pain you experience when you are undergoing changes. At the end of the day, when the light brightens at the end of the tunnel, everybody will be happy.

?President Tinubu has won his first term. If he decides to contest for a second term and the party gives him the go-ahead, I can guarantee you that he is going to emerge the winner. This is because that will be the time when people will begin to reap the benefits of what has been put in place from his reforms,? he asserted. (The PUNCH)

Update news