…says Second Term not automatic for president

Despite the seemingly overbearing posture of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the impression in some quarters that the coast is clear for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, ahead of the 2027 presidential election, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has noted that, a second term is not automatic for the president and his party, while noting that the North had been grossly marginalised under the Tinubu administration.

The National Publicity Secretary of the Arewa Consultative Forum, (ACF), Professor Tukur Muhammad-Baba, who spoke, in an interview with Saturday Telegraph, maintained that the impression that President Tinubu’s return would be automatic is erroneous, as the people of the region would have to properly appraise his performance before throwing their lots with him.

Appraising the current regime, he said: “The North is marginalised in the allocation of resources and with regard to the constitutional provision of spreading facilities as equitably as possible.

“It is in direct contradiction to the provisions of the Constitution, which call for equitable representation. For God’s sake, one state has four or more ministers, Ogun state. Is there a justification for that? They keep talking about facilities they have spread in the North; 42% of the allocation is in the North.”

He also faulted the Labour Party’s Presidential Candidate, Mr. Peter Obi’s proposal for a term presidency as undermining his capacities.

He said, “People are undermining their capabilities by saying I will go for only one term. That is saying that I am just going to satisfy my personal ambition of placing my name in the record.

“So if I go there, I will rally my own primordial brothers and sisters, and we do our worst, because we know that in four years or in 10 years, in eight years, we will go. To me, he is actually saying he’s not the best candidate. He just wants to test the office for one term, and that’s all.

“In the build-up to 2015, Buhari made that promise. He did not fulfil it. Did we hold him responsible? Many times when Atiku was campaigning, he also said, ‘Yeah, I will do one term and give it to the Igbo.’ He is saying that he’s not competent.

“He just wants to be there for history. To me, all of them are just chasing shadows and selling us dummies. That, actually, to me, they are undermining their competence.

Read the full interview on pages 20 and 21…