Northern Coalition Backs 2031 Power Rotation, Advises Atiku Against Personal Ambition

A coalition of northern groups, Northern Youth Frontiers (NYF), has supported for the rotation of presidential power between the North and South. It said the next northern presidential turn should come in 2031.

The group also urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to complete two terms in office, arguing that doing so would promote national unity, political stability and respect for the principle of power rotation.

The coalition, in a statement signed by its national chairman, Sama Musa, also cautioned former Vice President Atiku Abubakar against what it described as attempts to undermine rotational presidency in pursuit of personal political ambition.

Musa said the coalition had commenced consultations with political leaders, opinion leaders and other stakeholders across the North ahead of the 2031 elections. According to him, the North was “in no rush” to prematurely interrupt the existing power-sharing arrangement between the two major regions of the country.

“We have no problem whatsoever waiting until 2031. Power rotation in Nigeria is structured to rotate between the North and the South, not personal ambitions,” Musa said.

The coalition accused Atiku of attempting to create divisions among Nigerians in pursuit of his presidential ambition, insisting that the former vice president’s political timeline should not determine the broader strategic interests of the northern region. The group further argued that Atiku did not speak for the entire North and that the region possessed sufficient political and human capital to produce future leaders when the time was right.

“Presidency is rotated among regions, not individuals; Atiku does not represent the entirety of the North,” Musa said.

He added that the North had continued to thrive despite the departure of some of its most influential political leaders, citing the legacies of Sir Ahmadu Bello, former President Muhammadu Buhari, Mallam Aminu Kano, Maitama Sule and Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa.

“Our region has never been bereft of quality human capital,” he said.

The NYF chairman also said the coalition would continue consultations across the northern states as part of efforts to develop a coordinated political position ahead of 2031.

The group maintained that respecting the rotational principle would help preserve political balance and reduce tensions associated with attempts by individual politicians to alter established power-sharing expectations.

The coalition, therefore, called on northern political stakeholders to place regional and national interests above individual presidential ambitions.

It added that 2031 should remain the next opportunity for Northern Nigeria to seek the presidency as a collective region, stressing that no individual’s political ambition should be allowed to undermine national unity and the country’s political balance.