Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State has defended his decision to support the retention of Nigeria’s presidency in the South until 2031.
Fintiri said no northerner should contest the 2027 presidential election in the interest of fairness, unity and political stability.
The governor, who recently defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), stated that although the constitution allows any qualified Nigerian to contest for office, equity demands that the South complete its turn.
Speaking during a televised interview monitored by this newspaper, Fintiri maintained that his relationship with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar remains cordial despite political differences.
Atiku, who is from Adamawa State in the North-East, is currently in the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and is seeking his party’s coalition ticket to contest the presidency in 2027. He was the PDP presidential candidate in the 2023 election won by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“For those of us who believe so much in this country, growing up to see others keep Nigeria one for us, that we also are benefiting and enjoying, we are following the candidacy of the South,” Fintiri said.
“There is no strained communication with the former VP as a result of political differences. I still have; there is nothing that has gone bad. It is just that everybody has taken their political ways. I am today in APC, they are in another party.”
The governor stressed that Nigeria’s political stability must take precedence over personal ambition.
“It is still the turn of the South to complete. A northerner has no business at the moment to vie for the office of the President,” he said.
He added that if there is no alternative candidate, Nigerians should support Tinubu to complete his tenure.
“After all, he has done so much. He initiated good policies that are working, that are showing us light at the end of the tunnel,” Fintiri said.
