The North-Central group call for President Bola Tinubu to drop Vice President Kashim Shettima in 2027 and pick his replacement from their zone is a sheer blackmail that can’t work, an All Progressives Congress chieftain, Professor Haruna Yerima, has said.
The academic said this agitation is ill-timed, diversionary, insensitive, and in poor taste, emphasizing that such a move could disrupt the existing political power dynamics in the country.
He pointed out that since the return to democratic rule in 1999, the current power balance has remained stable, with power shared between the North and the South. “Between 1999 and 2003, President Olusegun Obasanjo maintained Atiku Abubakar for eight years. President Goodluck Jonathan had Namadi Sambo for six years, from 2010 to 2014,” he noted in a statement released in Abuja on Thursday.
The former House of Representatives member stated, “When the APC won the elections in 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari worked with Professor Yemi Osinbajo for eight years. Why change now?”
Recently, the North-Central Renaissance Movement, led by its chairman, Prof. Nghargbu K’tso, threatened to withdraw support from President Bola Tinubu if he fails to present a vice-presidential candidate from their geopolitical zone.
The delegation held a closed-door meeting on Saturday with former National Security Adviser, General Aliyu Gusau; former lawmaker, Senator John Danboyi; the Onah of Abaji, His Royal Highness Alhaji Musa Baba Yunusa; and others, who claim 65 years of marginalization.
Professor Yerima remarked, “Blackmailing Tinubu to change his deputy is not only undemocratic but also insensitive. The choice of Vice President rests solely with the president. Therefore, pressuring him to pick someone he neither likes nor knows is counterproductive, based on political experience.”
“Vice President Kashim Shettima was chosen by President Tinubu after considering numerous factors. You cannot impose your candidate on him. The president has an admirable agenda for the country, and he selected Senator Kashim Shettima to assist him in executing that agenda. So far, he has been performing very well,” the professor added.
The APC chieftain said the claim of 65 years of marginalization of the North-Central is historically inaccurate. He stated, “The North-Central, contrary to the group’s assertions, has not faced 65 years of marginalization. This is because they produced two of the longest-serving Nigerian leaders in history. Retired General Yakubu Gowon, who was Military Head of State for nine years from 1 August 1966 to 29 July 1975, comes from Plateau State; and retired General Ibrahim Babangida, who served as military president for eight years from 27 August 1985 to 26 August 1993, is from Niger State. They are all from the North-Central.”
Professor Yerima added, “By these historical facts, the North-Central has governed this country for a combined total of 17 years out of the 65 years of our independence – making it the region with one of the longest.”
The former lawmaker said what President Tinubu requires now “is absolute support to deliver on his mandate captured in the Renewed Hope Agenda. Refocusing the president’s administration on the 2027 elections is, in all honesty, diversionary and counter-productive. All party members should support the president to deliver on his mandate to the satisfaction of the electorate.”
