A socio-political group, Nigeria Forward, has urged political stakeholders in Northern Nigeria to respect the informal power-rotation arrangement between the North and South by allowing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to complete an eight-year tenure.
The group made the call during its formal unveiling in Abuja, where it said the principle of power rotation had helped promote national unity and political balance since Nigeria’s return to democratic governance in 1999.
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Co-Convener of Nigeria Forward and Kano State Commissioner for Information and Internal Affairs, Comrade Ibrahim Abdullahi Waiya, said returning the presidency to the North after only one term could undermine the established arrangement and rekindle sectional tensions.
He argued that the North should not seek to reclaim the presidency in 2027, but allow the present administration to complete its constitutional tenure and consolidate its policies, programmes and projects.
According to him, political stakeholders should place national interest and stability above immediate electoral calculations, while focusing on governance and development rather than sectional considerations.
Waiya said the Tinubu administration inherited significant economic and security challenges in 2023 and had introduced reforms aimed at addressing some of the problems.
He cited local government autonomy, increased financial resources accruing to sub-national governments and moves towards establishing state police structures as reforms that could strengthen governance and security.
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The commissioner disclosed that Kano State had established a committee on the implementation of state police, which he said could contribute to job creation and improved security when fully operational.
He, however, cautioned against reducing the challenges facing Northern Nigeria to presidential politics, stressing that addressing poverty and underdevelopment required the collective participation of citizens, state and local governments and other stakeholders.
Waiya described Nigeria Forward as a platform designed to bridge the gap between government policies and citizens, insisting that it was not owned by any particular political party.
Also speaking, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology and co-convener of the movement, Dr Kingsley Tochukwu Udeh, said the Federal Government’s reforms were aimed at moving Nigeria from infrastructure and connectivity to production, job creation and prosperity.
He said Nigeria Forward would provide citizens with information on government projects, investments, opportunities and the impact of programmes in communities.
Udeh urged Nigerians, particularly those in the North, to assess development initiatives based on their practical impact, such as how roads connect farmers to markets, railways reduce transportation costs, and energy and digital connectivity expand opportunities for young people.
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He described the administration’s development trajectory as “reform to infrastructure, infrastructure to connectivity, connectivity to production, production to jobs and jobs to prosperity.”
The minister also called on members of Nigeria Forward to make evidence, inclusiveness, innovation and national unity the foundation of their activities, as the platform seeks to promote what it described as its message of “Together We Move Nigeria Forward.”