There is a groundswell of opposition against President Bola Tinubu and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), especially from the North, over the 2027 elections, the Sunday Telegraph can report.

The complaints from the North are that they are being marginalised.

The North is working on a deal to present an acceptable candidate for election in 2027, either from the core north or the South. They believe that Tinubu is set in his ways, and his gestures to the north are mere tokenism.

However, the APC continues to rally around Tinubu through his people in the North, and one of the reasons the former APC Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, was dropped was also to bring in the North East into the fold as a key stakeholder.

The belief is that with the current Chairman of the party, being from the North Central and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation(SGF), the idea of a monolithic North does not hold water.

Even though the APC continues to reach out to the people in the North, of course, there are people, who are nudging the president to take a second look at some of his appointments, and one thing that is certain is that it is not going to be smooth sailing for Mr President in 2027.

The North is daring, and they are giving those who are running the APC and the government a lot of cause for concern. They have been weathering the storm, and the president has said that even in the days ahead, they are going to rubbish some of the issues relating to the late President Mohammadu Buhari’s administration.

Sunday Telegraph had reported in the build up to the off season governorship election of Kogi State in November 2023, that after the election, the administration of Tinubu would begin to put the blame on the predecessor.

The National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, was the first government official to say that the Tinubu administration inherited a bankrupt nation.

A source said “In the days ahead, there would be a tabulation of the appointments under Buhari and the appointments under Tinubu. They believe that the North has got its fair share, and what Tinubu is doing is equitable.

Sunday Telegraph learnt that some of the President’s handlers are going for broke.

However, the President is not sitting pretty as both he and the party are also marshaling out their counterattacks.

He is asking the members of his cabinet, members of his party, to go out and defend the party by showcasing the achievements of his administration in two years.

Those who should know, who confided in the Sunday Telegraph, volunteered that there are some elements of truth in the news making the rounds that former President Goodluck Jonathan may be drafted in to confront the incumbent President Tinubu.

This is even as the president and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) are also fighting back.

Sunday Telegraph gathered that the drive for Jonathan to run is completely Northern Agenda.

“Three reasons they want him to run. They believe that if Jonathan confronts Tinubu, the South-South will be divided. They are going to bring out their candidate. They believe that if Jonathan goes into the battle, the South will be divided, particularly the South South, so that they can do all they need to do and win,” said the Source, who did not want his name in print because he is not authorised to do so.

“They believe that it is only PDP that can confront APC, the person who has the clout is Jonathan, based on the fact that he is a former president, and some of the people who are in APC are in this understanding.”

Some days ago, a former governor in the South West was at a function, indirectly apologising to Jonathan. He said all the campaign against him was all politics in 2015.

The said governor, the source added, “has always been part of the Buhari Northern Agenda.”

Furthermore, another Source said that those in the North, resigning from PDP and joining the ADC, were doing so under pressure.

“Some of those who have joined the new bride are not comfortable with what is going on in ADC. They believe that the President and the APC are also responsible for some of the problems in the new party, while some people are refusing to allow the takeover of that party by Atiku Abubakar and his men. They are saying that the hand is the hand of Esau but the voice is the voice of Jacob; that the government is behind the problem in the party.

Also, the people in the North are said to have a fallback position. That is why there are some ongoing attempts under that to remake the PDP, so that if the ADC becomes legally impossible, there would be a fallback position. That is why they are drafting in former President Goodluck Jonathan,” the Source said

But there are fears that they are also reaching out to some people to join the fight against Tinubu.

Another Source said: “The words in the street indicate a kite being flown in the direction of former President Goodluck Jonathan relating to the 2027 Presidential Election.

“For some, it’s as certain as daylight that he would run as the consensus candidate of the North as well as the consensus flag bearer of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

For others, it’s another game plan of the North to divide the Southern vote and allow one of their own to get the plum job.

“Yet, others say it’s all thunder and no rain and a deliberate ploy to foist another agenda on the polity without the consent of Goodluck Jonathan.”

But whatever it is, two prominent Northerners in the persons of former leader of the Northern Elders forum (NEF) Prof Ango Abdullahi and former Governor Musa Kwankwaso, did not mince words about their feelings when they accused Tinubu of marginalising the North in terms of appointments and distribution of amenities and infrastructures.

Abdullai said: “We must be proactive. We will be asking questions. And this time, we expect answers. If we do not speak up and insist on fairness, the marginalisation will continue, and our children will inherit a more broken and divided nation.”

Before then, Kwankwaso had alleged that Tinubu’s administration focused only on developing the Southern part of the country, where he comes from.

The two-term former governor of Kano State and former Defence minister said: “Let me advise the Federal Government on the distribution of federal resources. From the information available to us, it is like most of the national budget is now tilting in one direction in this country.

But the Presidency is not just sitting pretty and folding its hands.

Sunday Telegraph gathered that in the next few days, the Tinubu-led administration will tabulate the names and the numbers of all appointments made under Tinubu’s predecessor, the late President Muhammadu Buhari, and that of Tinubu for Nigerians to compare and contrast and make sense of it.

However, the Tinubu administration, through the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, described Kwankwaso’s claims as “absolutely false, misleading, and self-serving.”

He said the remarks were aimed at deceiving Northerners and stirring unnecessary regional sentiments.

Umahi, responding in detail, said contrary to Kwankwaso’s claim, the North is, receiving more attention under the current administration’s road infrastructure push.

He outlined several ongoing projects in the North, noting that out of President Tinubu’s four flagship “legacy road projects,” 52 per cent are located in the North, with only 48 per cent in the South.

Speaking in the same vein, Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Public Communication, Sunday Dare, said: “The claim that Northern Nigeria has been left behind is incorrect. The Tinubu administration has initiated and continued several landmark projects in the North, covering roads, agriculture, healthcare, and energy.”

He outlined major infrastructure, health, energy, and agricultural projects being implemented across Northern states to buttress the government’s commitment.

He said ongoing projects include the Abuja–Kaduna–Kano Expressway, the Sokoto–Badagry Super Highway, the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano Gas Pipeline, and expansion of Mararaba–Keffi Road (43.65 km), among others.