Sheriff Backs Southern Presidency, Says North Won’t Rally Behind Atiku

Former Borno State Governor and All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwart, Ali Modu Sheriff, has said the chances of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar getting Northern support for the 2027 Presidential election was slim, arguing that the North believes power should remain in the South.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Sheriff on Monday insisted that Nigeria’s principle of regional power rotation should be respected, especially after former President Muhammadu Buhari completed two terms in office.
He said the North has no reason to aspire for the presidency in 2027, insisting that Atiku should defer any ambition till 2031.

Sheriff said that after the civil war, political leaders agreed to the power-sharing plan as a means of promoting unity and justice among the country’s regions.
“After the civil war, our leaders said that this situation will no longer be in Nigeria; there is a regional agreement. It’s not Atiku’s time now. The South is on his own. It is his turn. Buhari is just done 8 years.
“If Atiku wants to be president, he can wait, he is a leader in Northern Nigeria, he is eminently qualified, but it is not our time now, he has to wait till 2031. ‘That is the time for the North; for now it is time for the South,’ he said.

The APC chieftain also said he was confident that President Bola Tinubu would get a second term in office, though he noted that the ruling party would still campaign vigorously ahead of the election.

Sheriff also dismissed the presidential ambition of a former Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi, who will be contesting the 2027 election under the newly registered Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).

He alleged that Obi’s record as governor of Anambra State had damaged his chances of attracting Northern voters and that some Northern political supporters had expressed reservations about any alliance involving the former Anambra governor.