Former Jigawa State Governor and Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has expressed willingness to support Mr. Peter Obi in the 2027 Presidential election should he emerge as the standard bearer of the coalition.

This is just as the Middle Belt Forum said it may have no choice than stick with Peter Obi, noting that the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election has a track record of keeping to promise.

Lamido, who was responding to a question as to whether he would support Obi, who has offered to spend a single term of four years if he wins the 2027 presidential election, said, ?If the coalition produces Peter Obi or anyone else committed to rescuing Nigeria, I will support them. But I remain PDP. We should have outgrown tribal and regional sentiments.

Leadership should be about competence and vision, not geography. What has the North gained from producing the most presidents if the region remains underdeveloped? I?m open to any arrangement that can confront the APC and rescue Nigeria. I?ll support those who share that goal.? The former governor explained that zoning between the North and South was a creation of the PDP designed to solve a specific problem which was the annulment of the June 12 election. According to him, ?it was meant to be a healing mechanism, a temporary measure to restore trust. But now, it has become an albatross.?

Peter Obi has track record of keeping promise ? Middle Belt Forum, MBF

On its part, The Middle Belt Forum, MBF, says since the North lacks options they might stick with Peter Obi and his promise to serve one term in office if elected President of the country in 2027, given his track record of keeping to promises. The National President of MBF, Dr Bitrus Pogu maintained that the North would have no choice but to support a candidate from the South that they could trust since any move to produce a candidate from the North might not fly. He said that they could support Peter Obi based on his promise or former President Goodluck Jonathan if he is allowed, and the fact that the law would permit him only one term.

Dr. Pogu said, ?I want to say that a drowning person wouldn?t mind even holding onto a straw thinking that it will save him. So, in the situation which the North finds itself in, I do not think that their choices are many. Getting a Northerner to contest is a problem and they must have to trust somebody that has a track record of consistency which Peter Obi seems to have.

?But the issue now is, in spite of his pronouncement, in spite of the fact that they may extract a written agreement from him, will they faithfully carry out their support promises. That is the issue, because some of them could still say let us try our Atiku again or try one of those ones in the North, but they know that it is not going to sell, they know that very well. So they may still go for somebody in the South, either somebody who will promise them like Peter Obi or somebody like former President Jonathan if it is allowed, knowing that he cannot go beyond one term. So these are the options they have, because when people lack options, of course any option is a good option.?

Obi?s statement is political ? Ibrahim Nakande

A former Minister of Information and Communication, Ibrahim Nakande, noted that, ?For someone to say he will do only one term is political. Will the people from his zone agree with that? He has support everywhere, even in the north if you look at the record in the last election. There is no way he won?t have support, it depends on his proposed policies and programmes, and it is up to the greater Nigerian people to decide. I don?t think he is correct saying such a thing.?

Tinubu is in best position to hand over power to a northerner after 2027 ? Yakasai

Elder Statesman and former Presidential Liaison Officer during the Second Republic, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, however, maintained that President Bola Tinubu who is already in office will have only four more years after 2027, if re-elected for a second term. Yakasai explained that President Bola Tinubu is in the best position to hand over power to a northerner if Nigerians elect such a person.

According to him, ?it is public knowledge that the constitution restricts the President to a maximum of two- terms of four years each. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is therefore in the best position to honour an agreement to hand over four years after 2027 because even the constitution is there to compel him to do so.?

This proposition fundamentally undemocratic ? Alhaji Murtala Abubaker, President of Arewa Defence League (ADL)

President of Arewa Defence League (ADL), Alhaji Murtala Abubakar, argued that ?the principle of zoning and rotational presidency was weakened when former President Goodluck Jonathan, a Southerner, contested and won in 2011 despite the expectation that power should remain in the North to complete the ?North-South rotation? after President Yar?Adua?s death. Since then, the political landscape has evolved, and Nigerians now prioritize competence, credibility and capacity over regional entitlement. The idea that power must ?rotate? artificially restricts democratic choice and is no longer tenable in a modern Nigeria. A true democracy thrives when citizens freely elect the best candidate, regardless of ethnic or geographical origin.

Imposing an arbitrary one-term limit on a Southern president in 2027 undermines the will of the people and suggests that leadership should be determined by regional bargaining rather than performance and popular mandate.

If a Southern president performs exceptionally well, why should they be forced out after one term simply to satisfy an outdated zoning arrangement? The North is home to millions of competent, educated, and politically astute individuals who are fully capable of competing for the presidency on the strength of their ideas and leadership qualities?not through backroom zoning deals.

The Arewa Defence League believes in a merit-based system where any candidate, Northern or Southern, can contest and win based on their vision for Nigeria, not on artificial rotational agreements. When political offices are allocated based on regional considerations rather than competence, it breeds mediocrity and weakens governance just like the current situation in the country. Nigeria?s challenges require the best leaders, not those selected merely to fulfill a zoning formula. The call for a one-term Southern president in 2027 is a divisive tactic that reinforces regional distrust rather than fostering national cohesion?.

The North will not be deceived again? Alhaji Muhammad Danlami

On his part, Alhaji Muhammad Salihu Danlami, Speaker of the Arewa Youth Assembly, said the North would not be deceived again with such an arrangement as proposed by Peter Obi. ?Though not constitutional, Nigerians enjoy a gentle man agreement that power should rotate between the north and south. After the death of President Musa Yar?adua, the north was clamoring to complete its 8 years in power according to the gentleman?s agreement but we are all aware of what happened.

?The North succumbed to power of incumbency in 2011 and allowed President Goodluck Johnathan who promised Nigerians, he would be a one term president and he was elected only to seek re-election in 2015.We should not also forget in 2023, after North?s 8 years in power when Atiku Abubakar wanted power to remain in the North, but his main opposition came from the North that eventually led to his defeat.

?With this mutual agreement/arrangement for the unity of our dear Nigeria, the southern presidency will continue till 2031 and the North will not accept any presidential candidates who will try to sell the idea of one term because we have once fallen for it in 2011 and we were highly disappointed. The North will not support Peter Obi because of his type of politics of religion and ethnicity,? he alleged.

Time will tell where our true allegiance lies regarding 2027 ? Alhaji Jamilu Charanchi

In his remarks, Alhaji Jamilu Charanchi of the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), said only time will reveal where the true allegiance of the North lies in 2027.

He said, ?one of the most ironic traits of desperate Nigerian politicians is their boundless ability to promise heaven and earth just to secure votes, yet the moment they assume office, those promises vanish into thin air. The Nigerian political class has built a deep-rooted trust deficit across all sectors of society.

Keeping campaign promises has become the exception, not the rule. Anyone who still believes in such promises without critical scrutiny is simply deceiving himself. As for 2027, only time will reveal where the true allegiance of the North lies, not sweet words, but actions will shape that decision,? he concluded.

In his own reaction, former Secretary General of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Anthony Sani, said presidential aspirants who pledge to do only one tenure makes him feel they are unduly desperate for power and not for service. According to the elder statesman, ?I have said it several times that the North may be united on political issues which most northerners share. But when it comes to partisan issues northerners hardly speak with one voice.

?That may explain why Bola Tinubu and former Vice President Abubakar Atiku shared the votes in the North during the last presidential elections. When aspirants pledge to do only one tenure, it makes me feel they are unduly desperate for power and not for service of the people.

?I therefore cannot say the North will swallow such a bait of one term pledged by Peter Obi. Unless President Bola Tinubu does so badly in his first term, which may not be so, I expect the North to prefer President Bola Tinubu who has only one tenure left to go, if elected, as against Peter Obi who can change his mind reminiscent of how President Jonathan changed his mind and contested in 2015,? he said.

The North will not be convinced by Obi?s statement ? Bitrus Kaze

A former Member representing Jos East/Jos South in the National Assembly, Bitrus Kaze, who supported Obi in the 2023 election, said, ?That?s a tricky one. Now that Tinubu is President and gearing up for the second term. It looks appealing, reasonable and mature, but the north that I know, I mean the far north without the Middle Belt and the minority tribes in the so-called north, may not be convinced. The statement is pacifying but knowing how powerful the Nigerian Presidency is, I am not sure the north will be convinced.

Maybe the Middle Belt area, and the areas he got support in the past can accept, and respect what he said, but the law didn?t say a President can?t contest for the second term.

Obi?s profile is on the rise across Northern Nigeria ? Tanko Yunusa

Meanwhile, the Global Coordinator of Obidient Movement Alhaji Tanko Yunusa expressed confidence that Peter Obi?s philanthropic gestures as well as his recent proposal to spend only one term if elected President come 2027 have boosted Obi?s profile especially across the northern part of the country.

Tanko said, ?Peter Obi?s offer to serve a single term of four-years will undoubtedly assuage the concerns in some quarters about what his electoral victory could mean for the gentleman agreement of rotating political power between the North and South. There is no doubt that Obi?s proposal is being well received in the north where his actions and utterances are rebuilding trust.

Only recently, the Pantami Emirate in Gombe State honoured him with a traditional title. The real political symbolism of this is the fact that a respected Northern emirate conferred one of its highest honours on a politician from the South-East.

?Obi?s acceptance in the north where I come from is far better in 2025 than what we saw during the 2023 elections. It is a genuine paradigm shift that is poised to boost his electoral value in future elections. On the single term proposal, Obi said even four years is too much for what he wants to achieve. That?s how determined and prepared he is to transform Nigeria.? (Saturday Vanguard)

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