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North will back candidate who understands its problems, regardless of origin – Ex-SGF
The former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has indicated a shift in the criteria for selecting presidential candidates ahead of the 2027 Nigerian election, moving away from the standards used in 2023.
He also revealed a new political strategy for the North ahead of the 2027 presidential election stating that a new forum of northern politicians will prioritise unity and vote as a bloc, and their support will be given to a candidate who demonstrates a clear understanding of the region’s challenges, regardless of their ethnic or political background.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, Lawal, a former supporter of Labour Party’s Peter Obi, suggested he may not back Obi in the upcoming polls.
When asked about his stance on Obi for 2027, Lawal remarked, “Things have changed. The parameters we used to evaluate our candidate in 2023 are going to be different this time.”
He emphasised that political dynamics have evolved, leaving his support uncertain as he assesses new priorities for the election.
“They say a day in politics is long. Things have changed. The parameters we used to evaluate our candidate in 2023 are going to be different this time.
“Things have moved on, so we’ll see when we get there. We’ll see how it goes,” he said.
The former SGF added that Obi was the “true winner” of the 2023 presidential election.
Commenting on the stance of the north ahead of the 2027 polls, Lawal said people of the region must place power in the hands of someone who understands their challenges and is willing to confront them directly.
He said a group of northern politicians not in government formed the Nigerian People’s Consultative Political Forum (North) to promote unity and address disunity in the region.
Lawal said the forum agreed that the north must vote as a bloc, adding that without this unity, they cannot achieve their goals.
He said,
“We had a group of people who started meeting with like minds, asking how we should approach this, what the issues are.
“We call this the Nigerian People’s Consultative Political Forum, North, in which almost every significant northern politician who is not in government attends our meetings.
“The idea is that we get together and bring unity to this north. There is disunity among us, and we analyse what this disunity means, what causes it, and how we can ameliorate it.
“So, we agreed that we must vote as a bloc. If we don’t vote as a bloc, we will not be able to achieve our goals.
“That’s our understanding as a way forward. Now, whoever eventually emerges will only support somebody who understands the problems facing the north and will present them to him, whether the person is a northerner or a southerner, even if he’s from heaven,” he said.
“Eventually, we just decided that we can only pursue this if we are in one solid political party. And we all agree this solid political party can only be the ADC.
“At the national level, quite a lot of the most significant ones are Amaechi, Peter Obi, and Atiku Abubakar. I’m sure there are others there who have not yet thrown in the towel.”
Lawal concluded that the subject of who should lead Nigeria in 2027 was beyond partisan loyalty or ethnic sentiment.
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