Akume: 1999 North-South Power Rotation Agreement Favours Tinubu’s Re-election Bid

*North-central endorses president as sole candidate for 2027 election *First Lady, govs, SGF, Yilwatda defend Tinubu’s second term ambition *Tinubu inaugurates APC Presidential Campaign Council October 14 Igbawase Ukumba in Lafia The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, has disclosed that the 1999 agreement between northerners and southerners to rotate power for eight years between the North and the South is in favour of the re-election of President Bola Tinubu in 2027, insisting that the North will only produce the president in 2031 when the incumbent completes his eight years. Akume stated this yesterday in Lafia, Nasarawa State, during the endorsement of President Tinubu at a grand rally organised for the president’s re-election by the North-central zone of the All Progressives Congress (APC), under the auspices of the North-Central Grassroots Mobilisation Network. This comes as the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu; governors of Benue, Plateau, Niger, Kogi, Kwara, and Nasarawa states; and Akume have given reasons why Tinubu deserves a second term, saying his administration has transitioned from difficult reforms to visible prosperity. Meanwhile, President Tinubu will inaugurate the APC Presidential Campaign Council on October 14, with former Zamfara State governor Senator Abdulaziz Yari, Imo State Governor Senator Hope Uzodimma, and other party chieftains expected to play key roles. The North-central APC rally drew governors, senators and elders from Benue, Plateau, Niger, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Addressing APC supporters who intermittently chanted “Tinubu! Tinubu!”, the First Lady said the president believed in the country’s unity, security, and prosperity.She said her address was centred on the president’s Independence Day message on October 1 titled “From Reforms to Prosperity.” According to her, “after two years of reforming critical sectors, it is now time for benefits to reach Nigerians”.“Mr. President is saying that they have gone reforming a lot of sectors, but now is the time for prosperity. And we can see our economy is stabilising, foreign exchange is going down, and investors are coming back to Nigeria,” she noted. Drawing on her 12 years in the Senate, she said the current dispensation witnessed unusual infrastructure activity.“I have been in the Senate for 12 years. This is the first time I have seen governors fixing roads and building a lot of infrastructure. And we’ve seen now in the health sector,” she stated. She highlighted a food bank initiative providing free nutritious food for children, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers, as well as treatment for malnourished children. She urged students to take advantage of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND). Describing Tinubu as bold and courageous, she charged supporters to become ambassadors.“Tell everyone that Mr. President, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is a leader who is very bold and not afraid to take difficult decisions. He’s a leader who can be trusted to lead us into prosperity,” she said.“Vote for continuity, vote for capacity, vote for prosperity, vote for the reelection of Mr. President, and all the candidates of APC all the way from top to bottom,” she added. Speaking at the rally, Akume insisted that the parties agreed to rotate power between the North and the South in 1999. “I want us to consider one thing – that we agreed in Kaduna in 1999 to ensure that power rotates between the North and the South – eight years in the South, and eight years in the North. “Yesterday, our father (Buhari) made his sojourn in peace. He was on the throne for eight years. Today, Asiwaju (Tinubu) is expected to serve eight years. In 2031, northerners can field over 1,000 candidates. So, anybody from the North who is running for President today is not sincere. Let’s reject him 100 per cent, and I urge you not to accept him,” Akume told APC leaders and supporters. “You talk of education; more universities have been established, and above all, you have the NELFUND student loan scheme so that because of the circumstances of your birth, you can never be denied tertiary education,” Akume declared. Moving the motion for Tinubu’s adoption as sole presidential candidate in 2027, the SGF said: “There are so many things that this great man, this visionary, has done. He deserves something more than that, and therefore, by the authority of this great congregation, I, Senator George Akume, former Governor of Benue State for eight years, former Senator for 12 years, former Minister for four years, and now Secretary to the Government of the Federation, do now propose that the people of the North-Central zone meeting in this great congregation have resolved that come 2027, our sole candidate for that election is His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu; there is no other candidate.”Akume also described all the presidential candidates who had previously promised subsidy removal but made a U-turn, promising to reverse it if elected, as insincere to Nigerians. According to him, “that is what we call policy flip-flop, policy flip-flop. The idea is to deceive you; don’t be deceived”.Akume’s motion was seconded by the Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullah Sule, on behalf of the governors of Kogi, Benue, Niger, Kwara, Plateau states and the people of the FCT. Governor Sule argued that “for a man who has actually improved our oil production from less than one million to now 1. 8 million barrels per day, a man who has improved our foreign reserves from less than $20 billion to now $40 to $50 billion, for a man who has improved the capital market capitalisation of less than N80 trillion to now over N160 trillion; a man who has introduced students’ loan for education; a man who has introduced all the infrastructure that you are seeing, I second the motion that Bola Ahmed Tinubu becomes our one and only candidate for the 2027 election”. On his part, the National Chairman of APC, Prof. Nantawe Yilwatda, also highlighted Tinubu’s major achievements in many sectors, especially the construction of roads across the North-central and several political appointments given to the region and urged the voters in the region to reciprocate that kind gesture on January 16, 2027, by voting massively for the president’s re-election. Tinubu Inaugurates APC Presidential Campaign Council October 14 In a related development, President Tinubu will inaugurate the APC Presidential Campaign Council on October 14.Former Zamfara State governor, Senator Yari; Imo State Governor Uzodimma; former minister Dr Edu; and other party chieftains will play key roles. The inauguration is scheduled to take place at the Presidential Villa’s Banquet Hall in Abuja.In a statement issued yesterday, the Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Yari, disclosed this on Friday after meeting with the President at the Presidential Villa, where he briefed State House correspondents on preparations for the forthcoming campaign. Yari said: “The President had approved the proposed campaign timetable; activities would commence with a rally in Kaduna on October 24.”According to the campaign schedule, the rally will be followed by engagements in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State. Ahead of the formal inauguration, Nigeria’s First Lady, in collaboration with the Director of Women Mobilisation of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Dr Edu, and other members of the directorate, has commenced grassroots mobilisation of women across the country. Edu and her team have set a target of mobilising 40 million women voters for the Tinubu-Shettima ticket through a strategy covering 176,846 communities and polling-unit structures across the 36 states and the FCT.The planned inauguration will precede the October 24 rally in Kaduna, which is expected to mark the beginning of the party’s nationwide campaign activities.