Senator Ali Ndume says growing discontent in Northern Nigeria ahead of the 2027 elections could translate into protest votes if grievances are not urgently addressed.
The lawmaker representing Borno South Senatorial District, Ali Ndume, has explained why the North is grumbling ahead of the 2027 general elections. Ndume made the remarks on Wednesday while responding to questions during an interview on Prime Time, a programme on Arise Television, warning that the dissatisfaction could reflect strongly at the polls if left unaddressed.
He said President Bola Tinubu was not personally responsible for the growing discontent, but blamed those around him for failing to sustain engagement with Northern leaders. “I think Mr President, as a politician, as somebody who has gone through it all, is strategising to win the election, but not to declare himself as the winner. No, that will work, because you only do that when you are acceptable to the people. And there is resemblance.
“But in the north, if anybody that tells you that the North is not grumbling now, he’s not speaking the truth. The grumbling will be loud in their votes if nothing is done about it,” he said.
Ndume added that the President still has the opportunity to reverse the situation, noting that Northern elders had previously reached out to Tinubu in good faith. “The good thing about it is, I’ve said it here before that the President can change things. He can turn things around… And so he brought all the appointees from the North, critical appointees from the North, and we had a wonderful session.
“And he promised that such will continue, but it never happened. And what I’m suspecting is, as I’ve said it before, the President is not the problem. It is the people around the President that are the problems,” he said.