The apex northern socio-cultural organisation, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), has disclosed it will not endorse any candidate in the 2027 presidential election.
It, however, said it would interview the presidential hopefuls in the next six months to ascertain their plans for the region.
Speaking exclusively with LEADERSHIP in Kaduna, ACF national publicity secretary, Prof. T. A. Muhammad-Baba, said the presidential hopefuls would be asked to disclose plans on how they intend to tackle the challenges of insecurity and poverty in the northern region.
Pending the conduct of primary elections in political parties, some of the leading presidential hopefuls are President Bola Tinubu; former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi; former Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Amaechi; Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim; and Adewole Adebayo, who have indicated interest to contest the nation’s top seat in 2027.
Although the apex regional body said it would not endorse any candidate in 2027, it had endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) against Atiku of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2019.
The forum did not endorse a candidate in the 2015 election between then incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan and Buhari as APC’s candidate.
The forum also did not endorse a presidential candidate in 2023, which had Bola Tinubu of the APC; Atiku of the PDP; Peter Obi of the Labour Party; and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) as top contenders.
While presidential primary elections are likely to be held in June, the presidential election is fixed for the first Saturday in February next year, pending unforeseen circumstances.
Why we will interview hopefuls – ACF
Muhammad-Baba said just like in the 2023 presidential elections, the forum will invite all the aspirants or candidates to come and explain how each aspirant will tackle insecurity and poverty, among other issues affecting the northern region, if elected president in the 2027 polls.
ACF further stated that the forum would also prepare a position paper on the North and present the document to the winner of the 2027 presidential election on how to tackle the challenges facing the region.
The forum recalled that the candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, and the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, did not come to address the forum in 2023 despite the forum’s invitations.
ACF, however, said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, then candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Peter Obi, attended the forum’s 2023 interactive session.
“I think later in the year, towards the end of the year, we are going to make a decision on the 2027 presidential elections. You remember, during the 2023 elections, the same thing happened. Actually, ACF, along with some other groups, got together and decided what was the problem of the North and how to solve it. So we prepared a document to be presented to whoever won that election.
“But even before that, we invited all the presidential candidates to come and address us and specifically address what they needed to do and planned to do about the problems of the North️ in terms of education, infrastructure, economic empowerment and insecurity — those four areas.
“Some of the candidates came and others did not come. Like Atiku Abubakar did not come; Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso did not come. Peter Obi came; President Bola Ahmed Tinubu came, and so on. We had interaction with them ahead of the 2023 elections.”
This tradition, it said, the regional group would continue in the next election.
“And this coming 2027 election, we are also going to do that. We will prepare a position paper on the North and ask the presidential candidates or aspirants how they think, if they win, they would address those issues. Of course, now we are just waking up into the year, but I can assure you, before June this year we will come up with a position,” the forum said.
“We are not going to endorse any presidential candidate or political party in the 2027 elections because our organisation is diverse. We can only endorse plans and ideas that are in line with Northern interests. We are not partisan,” the ACF spokesman said.
Confirming the above stance, former secretary general of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Anthony Sani, also stated that the forum does not endorse political candidates.
Sani told our correspondent that ACF does not adopt political party candidates because membership of the forum cuts across political parties, explaining that the support of a particular candidate against another candidate would affect the unity of the forum.
“I have said that the North is only one of the issues that the majority of northerners share. But when it comes to partisan issues, northerners do not speak with one voice. It is against that backdrop that one can say the whole North cannot possibly support a particular candidate in 2027.
“More so, most of the major political parties have registered their presence in the North. That also explains why ACF may be political but not partisan, since membership of the forum cuts across party lines,” Sani added.
Similarly, the ACF Board of Trustees chairman, Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu, said ahead of the 2027 elections the North would only support candidates who had shown seriousness in promoting and protecting the interests of the region.
Dalhatu, who stated this during one of the board’s meetings held in Kaduna, said the forum would not support any political figure or party.
“Northern Nigeria will remain faithful not to particular politicians or political parties but to those who care about our regional interests and are willing to promote and protect them,” he said.