“Shield Tinubu from northerners plotting against him” – APC chieftain begs southern leaders
Chief Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun state, has called on political and traditional leaders in southern Nigeria to protect President Bola Tinubu from a “tiny elite” in the north working to stop his re-election in 2027.
In a statement on Sunday, Oyintiloye said Tinubu had always supported northern political interests and deserved the region’s backing for a second term.
He alleged that a small group from the north often forms a clique whenever a southerner becomes president and uses “blackmail” to weaken the administration.
His words: “This has been recurring, and the nation’s political history won’t forget the kind of intimidation southern presidents often suffered at the hands of very few men from the north who always mount serious opposition to the re-election bid of such president.
“But in the case of President Bola Tinubu, he has done enough to get the support of the major power bloc in the north. 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.”
Oyintiloye urged southern leaders not to aid “rejected politicians from the north” plotting against Tinubu, adding that such support was necessary to end the “negative political trajectory” that often greets second-term bids of southern presidents.
He also appealed to Adeyeye Ogunwusi, Ooni of Ife and chairman of the Council of Southern Traditional Rulers, as well as the co-chairmen, Cletus Illomuanya, Obi of Obinugwu, and Dandeson Jaja, King Jaja of Opobo, alongside Benjamin Ikenchuku Keagborekuzi I, Dein of Agbor and secretary of the council, to lead efforts to mobilise regional support for Tinubu and work with northern leaders to secure his 2027 victory.
The former lawmaker further called on former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, former senate president Ken Nnamani, and other southern elders to “rise to the occasion” and defend the region from “northern power mongers”.
He said Tinubu’s re-election would stabilise Nigeria and ensure continued fairness in the federal government’s development agenda for all regions.
