President Bola Tinubu has been advised to, as a matter of necessity, pick the Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin, as his presidential running mate in the 2027 general elections.
The call, made by a group known as the Northern Nigeria Progressive Youths Assembly, comes amid agitations surrounding the office of the Vice President in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), following insinuations that the incumbent, Senator Kashim Shettima, may be dropped.
“It won’t be seen as an impetuous decision if the incumbent President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, H.E. Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, picks Senator Barau Jibrin as his vice-presidential running mate in the forthcoming 2027 presidential election.
“Because picking a marketable person as a running mate is inarguably one of the best political permutations that any politician aspiring to an executive office should consider.
“And we are convinced that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu won’t hesitate to make the right calculation as an astute and well-groomed grassroots politician, by handpicking Senator Barau Jibrin as his vice-presidential running mate in the forthcoming elections,” the statement said.
The group sought to set the record straight, stating that despite Kano State being the home of the NNPP’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, the APC scored 517,341 votes—almost double the number polled in Borno State, where the previous running mate was chosen from.
“Lest it slips our memory, it was due to Senator Barau’s pervasive influence that the APC garnered votes in virtually all three elections. This is evident in the fact that, of all those who ran for the House of Representatives in Barau’s Kano North Senatorial District, only one lost to the opposition party.
“At this critical time when the political waters are getting murkier, President Tinubu needs to be very calculative and careful in how he selects his running mate in the forthcoming presidential election, so he does not choose the wrong person.”
“Having received good home training, Senator Barau has never cast aspersions on any leader, past or present, in this country. He strongly believes that no human being should be subjected to any form of humiliation or degradation, irrespective of age, gender, or social status.”
The group further argued that the number of votes scored by the two most powerful and popular contenders in the last presidential election indicates that the people of the North-East geopolitical zone favoured PDP’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, over President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, based on votes from each North-East state, as recorded by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
It noted that in Borno State, Tinubu scored 252,282 votes while Atiku got 190,921—a narrow margin of 62,000 votes. In Yobe State, Atiku polled 198,567 votes while Tinubu received 151,459. In Bauchi State, Atiku secured 426,607 votes to defeat Tinubu, who garnered 316,694 votes.
In Gombe State, Atiku polled 319,123 votes to Tinubu’s 146,977. In Taraba State, Atiku scored 189,017 votes, ahead of Peter Obi of the Labour Party, who polled 146,315 votes. President Tinubu came third with 135,165 votes. In Adamawa State, the PDP candidate polled 417,611 votes, compared to Tinubu’s 182,288—a wide margin of 235,323 votes.
According to the group, these results from the six northeastern states should serve as an impetus for President Tinubu to put on his thinking cap as the country approaches the 2027 general elections.
It concluded by alleging that, although rumours are widespread, some people close to the President are hell-bent on forcing either Senator Rabi’u Kwankwaso or Nuhu Ribadu on him.
