Ambassadors-Designate Reject 2027 Power Return to North, Back Tinubu’s Re-election

Nigeria’s Ambassador-designate to South Africa, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, and his counterpart to Mexico, Reno Omokri, have issued a joint statement asserting that political power must remain in the South until 2031. The envoys argued that because the North enjoyed two full, uninterrupted terms under former President Muhammadu Buhari, equity demands the South retain the presidency for a similar eight-year duration. They described any attempt to shift power back to the North in 2027 as a threat to national stability and a violation of the country’s informal power-rotation agreement.  

In their statement released this Saturday, May 9, 2026, the duo emphasized that the current Southern hold on power is a deliberate effort to maintain political equilibrium. They argued, “We further affirm that, having completed and made full and unfettered use of two terms of four years, under the Muhammadu Buhari administration, Northern Nigeria… had its full, uninterrupted, and undisturbed tenure in this power rotation arrangement.” They contended that it would be unpatriotic to truncate the South’s tenure after only one four-year term.  

The ambassadors-designate also took the opportunity to endorse President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term in 2027. They highlighted his historical role in facilitating the North’s return to power in 2015 and suggested that the North should now reciprocate that support. “We view it as unpatriotic and inimical to the unity, equilibrium, and progress of Nigeria for anyone to even conceive of power returning to Northern Nigeria after only one term of four years,” the statement noted.  

Concluding their intervention, Fani-Kayode and Omokri maintained that a balanced rotation of power is essential for the prosperity of the Federal Republic. They urged Nigerians to respect the “Gentleman’s Agreement” established at the start of the Fourth Republic in 1999 to avoid the political turbulence of the past. By backing President Tinubu’s continued leadership, they insisted they are acting in the best interest of Nigeria’s long-term unity and orderly governance.