Any qualified Nigerian has the constitutional right to contest the 2027 presidential election, Paul Ibe has replied George Akume who said northerners eyeing the seat of power should wait beyond 2027.
Ibe, a media aide to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said it was wrong for Akume, the Secretary General of the Federation (SGF), to “kidnap” the ambitions of Nigerians because of the second-term interest of his principal, President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“It appeared that Akume’s job in that particular interview was very clear: kidnap the aspiration of Atiku Abubakar and any other northerner and that was very irresponsible of him,” Ibe said on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Monday.
“The north has the right to present itself for election in 2027. It is wrong for SGF Akume to kidnap the ambition of the northerners.”
Ibe said since Nigeria’s return to democracy in May 1999, the north has ruled the country for 11 years while by 2027, the south would have been in power for 17 years. This, he said, was not in tandem with the rule of equity and fairness.
“The reality as I speak is that the south has ruled for 17 years versus the 11 years of the north,” he said,” he said.
The aide of PDP’s 2023 presidential candidate said Nigeria is at a crossroads at the moment measuring core indices of food inflation, inflation, cost of doing business, and cost of living crisis, among others.
“Must we be playing politics with their wellbeing? Why must we reward a student who does not pass his exam with a promotion?” he asked.
“Why the desperation of the Tinubu administration to be talking about 2027 when they have not completed 2024? 2025 beckons and 2026. Two more years to impact on the lives of Nigerians.
“Why are they so desperate? Every calculation is focused on 2027 so the question is when will they have time for governance?
“What we are getting now, is that the best that we Southerners have to offer?”
Ibe said contrary to insinuations that Atiku is not physically fit for the rigour of the office of the president, his principal is very healthy and sound in mind.
Atiku, Nigeria’s Vice President from May 1999 to May 2007, has been eyeing the seat of power for about three decades. He came second after Tinubu in the 2023 election.
