A pressure group operating under the North‑South Progressive Stakeholders has appealed to President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) to honor an “unwritten agreement” he made with the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, before Buhari assumed office in 2015. Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Sunday, the group warned that Buhari’s lukewarm support for the ruling party’s flag‑bearer is creating a “frightening strain” on the North‑South alliance, allegedly due to elements within the Presidency.
The appeal comes just a week after Kaduna State Governor Nasir El‑Rufai claimed that certain “elements” in Aso Rock were working against Tinubu’s victory. El‑Rufai, speaking on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily, suggested that those behind the sabotage were hiding behind the President’s desire to act as he sees fit.
Addressing journalists on Sunday, Alwan Hassan, convener of the North‑South Progressive Stakeholders, said the negative atmosphere emanating from the Presidency would not exist if the President had fulfilled his promise. Hassan argued it would be unfair for the President and the North not to repay Asiwaju’s loyalty by ensuring his victory in the 2023 presidential election. He noted that the events leading up to the election have raised concerns, as “non‑progressive elements” in the Presidency are undermining the North‑South progressive alliance and jeopardizing national unity. “These individuals, with their clandestine motives, are playing with our unity and using their power to inflict needless hardship on Nigerians for selfish, devilish interests,” he said.
Hassan reiterated the group’s demand: “We understand there was an agreement, though not written, between the President and Asiwaju before the 2014 primaries. We plead with him to keep that promise. Asiwaju ensured that no Yoruba candidate from the South‑West contested the 2014 APC primaries against the President, and the same occurred in 2019. Even without that agreement, Asiwaju has done much to support this government.”
He recalled the North’s past support for Buhari, noting that they campaigned for him in 2003, lost, won the election, but were later “rigged out” by the PDP, with similar outcomes in 2007 and 2011. “When Asiwaju came with the Southwest and entered this promise with the President, he delivered Buhari as president. We in the North will always be thankful and ask the President to seal this alliance, openly campaign, and urge the 12 million northern voters who have consistently supported him to vote for Asiwaju in the next election.”
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