By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa
Ahmadu Fintiri, governor of Adamawa, says no northerner should contest the presidential election in 2027.
Fintiri, who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in February, spoke on Tuesday during an appearance on Sunrise Daily, a programme on Channels Television.
Fintiri said while any Nigerian politician is constitutionally entitled to contest the presidency in 2027, the south should be allowed to complete its eight-year term before returning power to the north in the interest of national unity.
“It is still the turn of the south. A northerner has no business at the moment to vie for the office of the president,” he said.
Fintiri asked Nigerians to rally behind President Bola Tinubu to complete eight years in office.
“After all, he has done so much. He initiated good policies that are working, showing us light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.
When asked about his relationship with former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, Fintiri said there is no breakdown in communication between them, but he no longer aligns politically with him.
“Nothing has gone bad but everybody has taken their political ways. I am today in APC, they are in another party,” he said.
Abubakar, who was the presidential candidate of the PDP in 2023, resigned from the party in July, 2025.
Abubakar formally joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in November, 2025, and has expressed his intention to contest the party’s presidential ticket ahead of the 2027 elections.
Abubakar, who hails from Adamawa, has run for the number one office six times, but has been on the ballot as a presidential candidate on three occasions — 2007, 2019, and 2023.
