Former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani, has warned that attempts by northern politicians to reclaim the presidency in 2027 could reignite separatist agitations in the South-East, South-West and South-South.
Sani urged the North to allow President Bola Tinubu to complete the South’s turn under the informal power rotation arrangement, arguing that disrupting the arrangement could threaten national unity and political stability.
The former lawmaker, who is seeking a return to the Senate to represent Kaduna Central, said northern politicians could pursue their presidential ambition in 2031 rather than seek to reclaim the office in 2027.
He spoke during an interview with select journalists in Kaduna on Friday, where he also discussed insecurity, the performance of successive administrations and the need for effective representation of northern constituents in the National Assembly.
“The danger of disrupting this rotational idea is the fact that whatever you are doing to Tinubu for ethnic reasons, Tinubu must go,” Sani said.
He argued that the prospect of people from different regions contesting the presidency had helped reduce separatist agitations in parts of southern Nigeria.
“Today, if you look at it, the agitation for Biafra has gone to the lowest point because they are hopeful that one of their own is contesting the presidency of this country,” he said.
Sani added that agitations for a Yoruba republic and a Niger Delta republic had also declined, warning that disrupting the power rotation arrangement could reverse the trend.
He questioned how any president could govern effectively if substantial sections of the country felt they had been denied their expected opportunity to lead.
The former senator maintained that the North had no compelling reason to demand an immediate return to the presidency, noting that former President Muhammadu Buhari, a northerner, spent eight years in office between 2015 and 2023.
“The principle of rotation of power makes it clear that Buhari has been in power for eight years. It is only logical and rational that you have a southerner,” he said.
Sani also questioned the political arguments surrounding former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s presidential ambition, recalling his previous contests against former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Goodluck Jonathan and Buhari.
On insecurity, Sani acknowledged that the Tinubu administration continued to face serious challenges but accused some northern political leaders of applying double standards in their assessment of the current and previous governments.
He argued that those criticising Tinubu over insecurity should also account for the record of the Buhari administration, under which banditry, terrorism, mass abductions and attacks on schools and communities persisted.
Sani cited the abductions in Dapchi, Kankara, Jangebe and Yauri, as well as the kidnapping of students from Greenfield University in Kaduna State, as examples of the security challenges that confronted the previous administration.
He said the fight against insecurity should not be reduced to ethnic or partisan politics.
“We cannot address security challenges in the country when we shielded our own who failed to address the problem, and now shift blame and use it for political reasons to achieve certain political ends,” he said.
The former lawmaker also stressed the need for effective legislative representation, particularly in addressing the North’s security, healthcare, education and poverty challenges.
He said Kaduna State, given its strategic importance and diverse population, needed experienced lawmakers capable of attracting federal projects and articulating the needs of their constituents.
Citing his record in the Senate, Sani said he facilitated the construction of seven to eight primary healthcare facilities, scholarships, educational interventions and women’s empowerment programmes during his tenure.
He added that Kaduna’s multi-ethnic and multi-religious character required political leaders who could unite communities rather than exploit religious and ethnic divisions for electoral advantage.
The former senator expressed confidence in his party’s prospects in Kaduna State, arguing that its political dynamics differed from those of other northern states where religious and ethnic sentiments had increasingly influenced political mobilisation.
He urged political leaders to learn from previous administrations, stressing that power was temporary and should not be used to intimidate critics or marginalise sections of the population.
Tinubu, a southerner, assumed office on May 29, 2023, after Buhari completed two terms.
The question of whether the South should retain the presidency through the 2027 election or power should return to the North has remained a subject of political debate ahead of the next general election.
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