The Democracy Watch Initiative has rejected claims by Dr Umar Ardo that Northern Nigeria has been marginalised under President Bola Tinubu, saying the region will support the President’s re-election bid in the 2027 presidential election.
DWI, through its Deputy National Chairman, Hon. Musa Adam, made the position in a statement on Thursday in reaction to an interview granted by Ardo on the Frontline radio programme in Ogun State and subsequently reported by ThisDay.
The group also dismissed Ardo’s prediction that Tinubu could secure less than 10 per cent of the northern vote in 2027.
Adam described the prediction as unsubstantiated and urged Nigerians to reject what he called the politics of regional division ahead of the election.
He said DWI considered the comments an attempt to exploit regional sentiments for political purposes.
Adam also questioned Ardo’s political standing and electoral record, particularly his previous attempts to contest governorship elections in Adamawa State.
He said Ardo had contested governorship primaries under different political parties but failed to secure the governorship ticket.
Adam said Ardo’s political movements had included the Peoples Democratic Party, the All Progressives Congress and the Social Democratic Party.
He also dismissed the League of Northern Democrats, associated with Ardo, as lacking the electoral strength to determine the political choices of northern voters.
On Ardo’s claim that the Tinubu administration had favoured the South-West in federal appointments, Adam disagreed.
He pointed to the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima; National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas; and other northern appointees as evidence of northern representation in government.
“The North remains fully represented at the highest levels,” Adam said.
He argued that federal appointments and budgetary releases were governed by constitutional provisions, due process and project requirements rather than regional considerations.
“If Ardo has verifiable figures, let him publish them,” he said.
Adam also listed federal projects, agricultural interventions, security operations, road and rail infrastructure and social investment programmes as areas where he said the North had benefited from the Tinubu administration.
He described the projects as national interventions rather than programmes targeted at any particular region.
On the 2027 election, Adam said DWI believed northern voters would continue to support Tinubu.
“In 2027, northerners will consolidate their support for him because they have seen a President who is resetting Nigeria’s economy for the better,” he said.
He cited the removal of fuel subsidy, exchange-rate reforms, tax reforms, student loans, the Compressed Natural Gas initiative and infrastructure investment as measures he said would benefit Nigerians.
Adam maintained that the reforms, although difficult, were necessary for long-term economic development.
He urged northern voters and Nigerians generally to reject what he described as divisive political narratives and unsubstantiated statistics ahead of the 2027 elections.
“The North is ready to support President Tinubu to consolidate on his Renewed Hope reforms,” Adam said.
He added that the group would continue to mobilise support for what it described as the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
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