The Presidency has appealed to Nigerians in the North to support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027, arguing that allowing the South to complete its eight-year presidential tenure would strengthen national unity, political trust and stability.
The position was presented by Hajya Rahma Abdulmajid, Personal Assistant to the President on Radio and Broadcast in the Office of the Vice-President, during the inauguration and strategic media awards ceremony of Matan Arewa 4 Tinubu Again (MATA) in Kano on Sunday.
Abdulmajid described Nigeria’s power rotation arrangement between the North and South as an important political understanding established to promote fairness and prevent one region from feeling excluded from national leadership.
She argued that the arrangement should be respected by both regions, insisting that the North had already benefited from its eight-year presidential tenure under former President Muhammadu Buhari between 2015 and 2023.
According to her, the political understanding dates back to discussions among political leaders in 1998 and 1999, when Nigeria was preparing to return to democratic government after years of military rule.
She explained that former President Olusegun Obasanjo served two terms between 1999 and 2007 before power moved to the North under Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
Following Yar’Adua’s death in 2010, his deputy, Goodluck Jonathan, completed the remaining tenure and subsequently won the 2011 presidential election. Abdulmajid argued that the North later returned to power through Buhari’s two-term administration.
She maintained that the same principle should apply to the current political arrangement, with Tinubu expected to complete the South’s eight-year turn if re-elected.
The presidential aide also criticised politicians opposing the continuation of the arrangement, arguing that political ambition should not take priority over national stability.
She specifically referred to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s position on zoning, questioning his criticism of an arrangement that she said had previously accommodated political interests across regions.
Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf also supported the position. Represented by his Director-General of Media and Publicity, Sunusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, the governor said fairness and inclusiveness were important to preserving Nigeria’s unity.
Former Jigawa State Governor and immediate past Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, also defended the Tinubu administration, highlighting infrastructure and social development projects in northern states.
The debate over power rotation comes as political activities ahead of the 2027 presidential election gather momentum.
Although zoning has influenced political negotiations since Nigeria's return to democracy, the North-South rotation arrangement remains an unwritten political agreement rather than a constitutional requirement.
Tinubu’s second-term bid is therefore expected to remain a major subject of political discussion as parties and potential candidates prepare for the next presidential contest.