Former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Abdullahi Ganduje, has expressed strong confidence that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu remains the most qualified candidate from Southern Nigeria to lead the country beyond 2027.
Ganduje made the remarks in Abuja while receiving a delegation of youth leaders from Northern Nigeria, drawn from all 19 states in the region.
He used the occasion to refute suggestions that the North would oppose President Tinubu’s second-term ambition, describing such views as unfounded and misleading.
“There is no better candidate to govern Nigeria beyond 2027 from the southern Nigeria than Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” Ganduje stated.
He cautioned against assumptions that Northern voters would withdraw their support for the president in the next general election.
“Pertaining to the next election in 2027, those that are nursing or thinking otherwise that the north will vote another candidate other than Asiwaju are making a big mistake,” he warned.
Ganduje said Tinubu’s long-standing political experience sets him apart, noting that the country is fortunate to have a leader whose life has been deeply rooted in political activism and democratic ideals.
“This is the first time Nigeria as a nation is lucky to have a politician as president; his constituency is politics, his upbringing is politics because he believes in the unity of this country,” he said.
The former governor of Kano State also highlighted Tinubu’s involvement in Nigeria’s struggle for democracy, recalling the personal sacrifices he made during the era of military rule.
“In fact, he struggled; he was even in exile for democracy to survive in Nigeria. So, there is no better person to be elected in 2027 than Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” Ganduje added.
He further referenced a prior political understanding reached before the emergence of former President Muhammadu Buhari, which he said provided for the transfer of power to the South after eight years.
“Asiwaju has only been there for less than four years now, and we have seen the measures, the reforms that he undertook,” Ganduje said.
“The reforms that he introduced in order to improve the social economic development of this country.”
