…Declares support for Tinubu
The National President of the Forums of Ex-Councillors of Nigeria, Ambassador Hon. Awal Kasim Hassan, has urged former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to respect the zoning arrangement and step aside until 2031.
This is as he declared that former councillors across the country remain firmly behind President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ahead of 2027.
Speaking in an interview in Kaduna, Hassan described ex-councillors as the largest grassroots political structure in Nigeria and said the forum is the only group with councillors in all 774 local government areas supporting Tinubu.
“Councillors are everywhere. There are not less than 25 former councillors in every ward. In all 774 local governments in Nigeria, we are there. That’s why Tinubu is for us.
“Even in the North, people are fighting Tinubu, but that’s a lie. We, the councillors, own the North — the 19 states,” he said.
Hassan dismissed suggestions that Atiku’s emergence under the ADC would split Tinubu’s votes, calling it “a lie” with “no chance.”
He argued that zoning agreements made during the APC era favoured the North for eight years under former President Muhammadu Buhari, and that the South, through Tinubu, is yet to complete its turn.
“When the idea of zoning was mooted, they agreed with it, and that was why they gave Buhari. When it was his turn, they said no, and then they went to the election. Tinubu has not finished the eight years yet,” he stated.
On Atiku’s current political movement, Hassan said it was not new, noting that Atiku, Rotimi Amaechi, and others had held top positions before.
He described the ADC arrangement as deception by politicians who “never won an election in this country.”
He advised the Northern community and Atiku to shelve any 2027 ambition.
“I advise Atiku to stop that movement and go sit down and wait for 2031. At that time, he can come and contest. Nobody loves Atiku in the North. Even the youth — we don’t want any man from 80 years and up, from 70 and up, from the North. We need people 50 and below. That’s what we want from the North,” he said.
Hassan added that the ex-councillors’ forum has been supporting Tinubu since the days of AD and has already mobilised its structure from the ward level for 2027.
“Right from 2023, they know who the councillor is. We’ve been supporting Tinubu. We have set our machinery at the ward level. Councillors are putting 20 people in each box in Nigeria,” he said.
