Envoys Back Tinubu Re-Election, Southern Presidency Retention

Nigeria’s presidency should remain in the South for two full terms to maintain the country’s stability and unity, two ambassadors-designate have said, declaring their support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027.

In a joint statement on Saturday, Femi Fani-Kayode, Ambassador-Designate to South Africa, and Reno Omokri, Ambassador-Designate to Mexico, argued that the North has already completed its tenure under the late former President Muhammadu Buhari.

“We believe it is in the best interest of the stability, unity, and prosperity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and in keeping with the Gentleman’s Agreement, which ushered in our Fourth Republic in 1999, for there to be a balanced and orderly rotation of power in Nigeria, between the North and the South,” the statement read.

“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 said.

“After that tenure, it is the turn of Southern Nigeria to take and retain the baton of power for a commensurate period of time, to wit, two terms of four years each.”

They described any attempt to return power to the North after only one term as “unpatriotic and inimical to the unity, equilibrium, and progress of Nigeria.”

“Our candidate for 2027 is President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” the diplomats declared.

They cited the president’s economic achievements, stating that Tinubu “has, in the last three years, delivered 12 cycles of GDP growth and trade surpluses, while adding $67 billion to our economy and making Nigeria the sixth largest contributor to global GDP growth in 2025.”

Our Candidate For 2027 is President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

In view of recent political events, it has become necessary and expedient for us, Ambassadors Designate Chief Femi Fani-Kayode and Mr. Bemigho Reno Omokri, to state categorically that we believe it is in the best interest… pic.twitter.com/G5nGvczk7f

— Femi Fani-Kayode (@realFFK) May 9, 2026