2027: Osun ex-lawmaker urges southern elders to protect Tinubu from northern conspiracy

A former Osun State lawmaker, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, has called on political and traditional leaders in southern Nigeria to rally behind President Bola Tinubu and protect him from a small group of northern elites allegedly plotting to thwart his 2027 re-election bid.

In a statement on Sunday, the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain said Tinubu has long been a friend of the North and a supporter of its political causes, and therefore deserves reciprocal support for his second-term ambition.

Oyintiloye, who once represented Obokun State Constituency, warned that a recurring pattern in the country’s political history shows that a splinter northern clique often emerges when a Southerner is president, resorting to blackmail and other tactics to undermine the administration.

He added that this tendency has repeatedly subjected southern presidents to political embarrassment in the quest by a minority in the North to seize power.

“This has been recurring and the nation’s political history won’t forget the kind of intimidation Southern President often suffered in the hands of very few men from the North who always mount serious opposition to the reelection bid of such President.

“But in the case of President Bola Tinubu, he has done enough to get the support of the major power block in the North.

“Therefore, the time has come for the region to further put the tiny few behind the mischief being plotted against the President where they really belong.

“These individuals are self appointed leaders of the North, so the region’s recognised political leaders and royal fathers can’t continue to watch the trend and allow blackmail against Tinubu to gain traction,” Oyintiloye said.

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The former lawmaker also called on political leaders and traditional rulers from Southern Nigeria not to make themselves available for some rejected politicians from the North who are plotting against Tinubu.

He said, “And this is the more reason the Southern leaders must rise and rally support for the President.

“This support is necessary to put an end to the consistent, negative political trajectory that second term bid, whenever a Southerner is the President, often follows.

“They should shield the President against unwarranted attacks from just a handful politicians from the North.”

He also appealed to the His Royal Majesty, Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, who is Chairman of the Council of Southern Traditional Rulers, and the co-chairmen, Obi of Obinugwu, Cletus Illomuanya, and King Jaja of Opobo, Dandeson Jaja, with the Secretary of the of the council, Benjamin Ikenchuku Keagborekuzi 1, Dein of Agbor, to champion the support for the President within the region and work with their colleagues from the North to ensure victory for Tinubu in 2027.

“I also want to advise ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, ex-President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Prof. Wole Soyinka, former President of the Nigeria Senate, Ken Nnamani, and other Southern elders, to rise to the occasion and stop repeat of negative history. They should defend Southern Nigeria from the few Northern power mongers,” he further said.