Having deployed clever political tactics to ensure that the southern flank of the country is solidly for his re-election in 2027 through the reassembling of state chief executives as his support base, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, last week, through the choice of Prof. Goshwe Nantewe Yilwatda as national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), showed his determination to earn maximum votes from the North, LEO SOBECHI writes.

That President Bola Ahmed Tinubu stands out as a great political architect in Nigeria cannot be disputed. It is a game he started playing, albeit from the background, as he served as Auditor in Nigeria’s Mobil Oil. Tinubu’s ability to design political skyscrapers that stand out became noticeable during the drawn-out transition to civil rule programme of former President Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida.

Having identified with the Social Democratic Party (SDP)—one of the two establishment political parties decreed by the IBB junta—Tinubu had rallied a crop of emergent leaders to challenge the status quo. While the Awoist elements within the SDP, led by Lateef Kayode Jakande, wanted to maintain the political status quo in Lagos State, the group of young professionals, which Tinubu funded—otherwise known as PRIMROSE (People Resolved Irrevocably to Maximise the Resources of the State for Excellence)—insisted on questioning every political step and submission.

Although the infighting between the Baba Sope (Jakande) group and PRIMROSE robbed the SDP of the governorship, the leadership pool continued to impact leadership and development in the state from 1999 to this day. In 2012, five years after Tinubu served out his two terms as Lagos State chief executive, two of his mentees, Tunji Bello and Opeyemi Bamidele, were divided in their attempt to describe Tinubu’s leadership acumen.

To Bello, who served as Commissioner for Environment then, Tinubu could be seen in the eyes of Plato “as a leader that has a republican spirit,” or as the one “that enables that the end justifies the means,” according to Machiavelli’s postulation.

But Bamidele believed that Tinubu was an ideologue, stressing that the current Nigerian President manifests the four basic characteristics of an active political ideologue, including knowledge of the people’s needs, possessing a sound alternative theory, having strong links with the masses, and strong organisational acumen.

On Thursday, July 24, both aspects of President Tinubu were on full display as the ruling APC unveiled its new national chairman in the person of the Plateau State-born Professor Goshwe Nentawe Yilwatda.

As one who knows how a mistake could translate to a secret of success, the APC leader focused on Yilwatda, who unsuccessfully contested the Plateau State governorship in 2023, believing he could exert the much-needed intellectual and organisational scheme to avoid failure in 2027.

Next to that, being a former Resident Electoral Commissioner in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the immediate past Minister of Humanitarian Affairs knows how to avert such electoral slams as the organisational imperfection that made APC lose the Zamfara State governorship contest in 2019. Although some opposition politicians claim that the new APC chairman was conscripted into the party’s driving seat to help the party navigate through dark alleys in the INEC as an insider, that is neither here nor there.

But deep searches, especially looking at what transpired during the 2023 general election, show Plateau State returned massive voting numbers, with some insiders claiming that the Labour Party (LP) garnered a little above one million ballots before the glitches supervened. Consequently, some insiders said that while some agitators for the return of the APC chairmanship to the North Central geopolitical zone were looking at Niger and Nasarawa States, the President was looking at Plateau, to tick the boxes of voting numbers and religious denomination.

It was gathered that during the President’s five-day absence after the BRICS summit in Rio De Janeiro, a small group he put together to look at contemporary issues in the polity sent in its report and recommendations.

The Guardian was informed by a source privy to the panel that Tinubu agreed with the recommendations of the highly technical group that there was a need for the APC to ensure inclusivity in terms of religion, zonal balance, and demography, to ensure that Tinubu wins larger votes from the North in the 2027 poll.

The strategy, the source confided in The Guardian, is that Prof. Yilwatda, a 56-year-old Christian, became the President’s pick for the two main reasons of religious and ballot bulge consideration. That way, Senator Sani Musa, who had hoped to benefit from the large votes given to APC by Niger State and the agitation for the return of the chairmanship to the North Central geopolitical zone, lost out.

Also, Senator Tanko Al Makura, who was being pushed by the CPC (Congress for Progressive Change) branch remaining in APC, could not be considered, because being a Muslim, he did not fit, especially against the background that the opposition coalition promoters are rallying the North Central as a Christian-dominated zone.

The source disclosed that further to the plan to recalibrate the leadership organogram of the Tinubu-led administration, a new running mate would be chosen from Kano State, even as the offices of the Chief of Staff and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Deputy President of Senate would be redistributed among the North West and North East, respectively.

While Governors Dikko Radda, Senator Uba Sani, and Barau Jibrin are being mentioned as likely replacements for Senator Kashim Shettima, the Deputy President of the Senate looks more likely to be the ultimate beneficiary on account of the ranking of the North-West as the seat of votes and Muslims.

Senator Jibrin’s choice is said to be fuelled by the recommendation of youth inclusion, as well as the President’s plan to call the bluff of the former Presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, who is said to be laying implausible conditions to work for and with the APC, including a written agreement to be handed over the national political structure for 2031 and the Presidential ticket of the party.

As an experienced political negotiator, The Guardian learnt that while the continual discussions with Kwankwaso were going on, the President, who likes to set forth at dawn in long-term planning, devised a means of running a ring around the former NNPP presidential contender.

Senator Kawu Sumaila, who was empowered with huge ecological and other intervention funds, was encouraged to return to APC as Kwankwaso continued to vacillate. Working together with the Deputy President of the Senate, the President believes that both influential lawmakers could ride on the advantage of a possible presidential running mate position to reduce Kwankwaso’s vote tally in the event that he (Kwankwaso) rebuffs overtures for his eventual return to APC.

In a press conference late last month, the Deputy President, who triumphed over Kwankwaso and NNPP in 2023 to win the Kano Central Senatorial District for APC, said he has been telling the party’s stakeholders to stop dissipating energy over talks about the issue of the VP slot.

Although Jibrin argued that the time was not ripe yet to start discussing the politics of who gets what, he noted that since governance is the issue currently, supporting the President to drive his reform policies was paramount.

But when challenged about the latter-day close working relationship with the Presidency, which suggests a possible pairing on the presidential ballot, the Deputy President of the Senate stated: “Honestly, I don’t want to say anything about this now. What is clear is that Mr President, since the beginning of this administration, has been working very hard to change the trajectory of this country…

“We have been working with him day and night, because he is the father of the nation. At this time, there’s no point in talking about running mate issues. What he is doing is a work in progress, and we all must support him.”

The Presidency source had noted that “in the ongoing reformation, young people and women would be given their pride of place in the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President. From the party hierarchy, the next port of call is the cabinet, and it would cascade to the states.”

Part of the reasons for sitting the APC National Electoral Committee (NEC) meeting at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, he stated, was to ensure that the “attendees behave with decorum, without any opportunity for a repeat of the rowdy session at the Gombe State zonal consultative meeting.”

It was gathered that in the anticipated cabinet reshuffle and release of names of non-career ambassadors, some incumbent ministers would be dropped, especially from Delta, Enugu, Kebbi, Zamfara, and Jigawa States, to pave the way for the recalibration of the reward and recognition mechanism in the ruling party.

The appointment of Muhammad Babangida as Chairman of the refurbished Bank of Agriculture (BOA) by President Tinubu was seen as part of the far-reaching strategies by the President to widen the areas of influence and opportunities for northern youths in the APC. As the son of Nigeria’s former military ruler, Muhammad, aged 53, has a significant following among the youth in the populous Niger State, where he has been visible in sports and philanthropy-related events.

In an obvious attempt to diminish the President’s ongoing show of empathy in the North, Senator Kwankwaso used the opportunity of the recent zonal consultative meetings by the National Assembly committee on Constitution Review to accuse the President of devoting a sizeable chunk of national wealth to develop the South at the detriment of the North.

Further, the fake letter attributed to Muhammad Babangida in which the authors claimed that his appointment as BOA chairman was rejected, The Guardian learnt, was part of the attempt to pour water on APC and Tinubu’s re-invigorated momentum in the region.

Immediately the fictitious rejection letter bearing the young Babangida’s signature and headed paper started making the rounds on social media, APC leaders in Niger State rallied the son of the former military leader to send out a counterstatement, clarifying the point that instead of rejection, the new BOA chairman actually accepted the appointment and thanked President Tinubu for the opportunity to serve and contribute his quota to national development.

Part of the statement read: “We wish to clarify that Muhammad gratefully accepts the appointment as Chairman of the Bank of Agriculture, as announced by the federal government, and extends his sincere appreciation to President Tinubu for the trust and confidence bestowed upon him.

“We also want to assure the public that those spreading these falsehoods will be thoroughly investigated and brought to justice. We remain committed to transparency, accountability, and fostering unity within our nation.”

In the mind games between the northern opposition and the Tinubu-led APC, the National Political Consultative Group (North) met on July 26, where they resolved to educate Nigerians about the failings of the Tinubu-led administration as well as the nepotism of his appointments.

Stung by the appointment of Prof. Yilwatda as APC national chairman, the opposition leaders outlined strategies to mobilise Nigerians across the six geopolitical zones to embrace the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as the platform of choice to rescue Nigeria from Tinubu and APC’s misrule.