Northern bloc will back Tinubu in 2027 for 2031 power return, says ex-ACF scribe
Former Arewa Consultative Forum Secretary General Anthony Sani says the North will vote overwhelmingly for President Bola Tinubu's re-election in 2027, purely as a strategic calculation to reclaim the presidency in 2031.
Speaking with Daily Post on Wednesday, Sani explained the logic: the North wants the presidency back after eight years in the South. Backing Tinubu for a second term ensures power shifts northward by 2031 under the informal zoning arrangement.
Sani also predicted the South-East will rally behind Peter Obi, now running under the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), driven by ethnic identity politics rather than policy. But he dismissed any chance of the North supporting Obi, citing two reasons: the North doesn't trust Obi to serve only one term, and they view him as a risk to national unity.
He drew a direct comparison to Mikhail Gorbachev, who presided over the Soviet Union's collapse, claiming Obi's refusal to condemn IPOB and Nnamdi Kanu makes him a similar threat in the North's eyes.
This is one man's political forecast, not a confirmed northern consensus. Sani's ACF role gives his views weight, but northern voters and power brokers have historically been far less monolithic than such predictions suggest. The 2027 race is still wide open.
Does the North actually vote as a bloc on zoning calculations, or will economic hardship and insecurity reshape loyalties before 2027?