Former Borno State Governor and All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwart, Ali Modu Sheriff, has said the chances of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar getting Northern support for the 2027 Presidential election was slim. Sheriff argued that the North believes power should remain in the South.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Sheriff on Monday said Nigeria’s principle of regional power rotation should be respected, especially after former President Muhammadu Buhari completed two terms in office.
He said the North has no business aspiring to the presidency in 2027, insisting that Atiku should shelve any ambition till 2031.
“The power-sharing plan was agreed to by political leaders after the civil war as a means of promoting unity and justice among the country’s regions,” Sheriff said.
“After the civil war, our leaders said this situation will no longer be in Nigeria; there is a regional agreement. It’s not our time now for Atiku. It is his own, the South. It is his turn. Buhari just done 8 years.
“If Atiku wants to be president, he should wait. He is a leader in Northern Nigeria, he is eminently qualified, but it is not our time now, he has to wait until 2031. “That is the time for the North; now it is the time for the South,” he said.
The APC chieftain, also confident that President Bola Tinubu would get a second term in office, said the ruling party would still campaign vigorously ahead of the election.
Sheriff dismissed also the presidential ambition of a former Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi, who would be contesting the 2027 election under the newly registered Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).
He claimed that Obi’s performance as governor of Anambra State had hurt his chances of wooing Northern voters and some Northern political backers had doubts about any alliance with the former Anambra governor.
