North will only back 2027 candidates who protect region’s interests – ACF

By Musa Baba Adamu with agency report

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Northern Nigeria’s foremost socio-cultural group, has declared that the region will only support candidates in the 2027 general elections who are committed to advancing and defending Northern interests.

Speaking at the opening of the ACF Board of Trustees (BoT) meeting in Kaduna on yesterday, the Chairman, Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu, said the North would no longer offer blanket support to politicians or political parties without clear commitments to the region’s development and welfare.

“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,” Dalhatu stated.

Dalhatu, a former Minister of Power and Steel, warned that the North is facing “numerous existential problems” and urged unity among stakeholders to present a formidable front ahead of the next elections.

He stressed that the region has the capacity to determine national outcomes if it remains united.

“Northern Nigeria is today bedevilled by numerous existential problems. But what is not in doubt is the fact that the North has in abundance what it takes to compete and prevail in any fair competition within Nigeria and even the wider African continent,” he said.

He cited the region’s numerical strength and political weight, pointing out that the North controls a majority in several national institutions.

“The North has 19 out of the 36 states, and we also have the FCT as a veritable component. We have a majority in the Senate, the House of Representatives, the National Economic Council, and the Council of State,” Dalhatu noted.

“An area this big and this strong can never be subdued by any opponent, provided we remain united and place our region above all other considerations. United we stand, divided we fall.”

The high-level meeting drew attendance from several prominent Northern figures, including former governors Ibrahim Shekarau, Ramalan Yero, Simon Lalong, and Ahmed Makarfi.

Others present included former Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed; retired army spokesman, Brigadier General Sani Kukasheka Usman; former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal; and Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, a former presidential adviser.

Dalhatu also cautioned against what he described as the premature political alignments and jostling for 2027, saying such distractions undermine good governance.

“The current preoccupation with the 2027 national elections is premature and a disservice to the principle of the four-year term limit given to elected officials,” he said.

He revealed that the ACF is considering the formation of a committee to assess the impact of government programmes, especially under the current administration on Northern Nigeria.

“We have received a number of proposals from some of our elders that this body appoints a special committee to conduct a detailed study and review of the policies, projects and programmes embarked upon by the current government and determine how they have impacted the various parts of the country particularly Northern Nigeria,” he said.