Rejecting Tinubu’s Re-election Could Destabilise Nigeria – Ex-NAHCON Boss Warns
The immediate past Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Sheikh Abdullahi Saleh Pakistan, has warned that denying President Bola Tinubu a second term could trigger a political crisis and undermine Nigeria’s tradition of power rotation between the North and South.
Pakistan made the remarks while addressing youth groups at his residence in Kano, where he urged Nigerians to support Tinubu’s re-election bid, arguing that the president should be allowed to complete two terms, as former President Muhammadu Buhari did.
He maintained that rejecting Tinubu’s second-term ambition primarily because of his regional origin would be dangerous for the country’s political stability and could create a precedent that might disadvantage future northern presidential candidates.
According to him, Tinubu played a significant role in supporting Buhari’s emergence and eventual completion of two terms in office, despite concerns about the former president’s health.
“We have to be fair to Tinubu. The type of politics we are playing, where we reject somebody because of the region he came from, is dangerous. If we sustain this, we will suffer in the future,” he said.
Pakistan warned that denying Tinubu a second term after Buhari’s eight years in office could generate resentment and weaken the informal understanding surrounding the rotation of presidential power between the two regions.
He added that such a development could make it difficult for a northern candidate to secure two consecutive terms in the future.
The former NAHCON chairman also defended the Tinubu administration’s security record, citing what he described as improvements in safety along the Abuja–Kaduna highway and the railway corridor.
He recalled that travelling between Abuja and Kaduna had become highly dangerous during the latter part of Buhari’s administration, when kidnapping incidents and attacks on transport infrastructure heightened public anxiety.
“Up to the time Buhari finished his second term in office, a journey from Abuja to Kaduna was suicidal. You only heaved a sigh of relief when you arrived in Kaduna. But now you can leave Abuja at 12am and arrive in Kaduna safely. It means there is an improvement,” he said.
Pakistan further recalled attacks on the Abuja–Kaduna train service, which disrupted operations and discouraged passengers from using the railway.
He attributed the reported improvement in security to the current administration, although his assessment was not accompanied by independent security statistics in the report.
On the economy, Pakistan cited declining prices of some staple food commodities as evidence of improvement under Tinubu.
He compared the prices of rice and millet during Buhari’s administration with their current market prices, saying the changes had reduced the cost of the commodities.
“Under Buhari, a bag of rice sold for N120,000, but today it is N57,500. It is less than half the amount under Tinubu,” he said.
He also said that, as a farmer, he previously sold a bag of millet for about N85,000 during Buhari’s tenure, compared with approximately N30,000 at the time of his remarks.
However, the prices cited reflect his personal market observations, and the report did not specify the locations, periods or market data used to establish the comparisons.
Pakistan’s comments come amid growing political discussions ahead of the 2027 general elections, with the question of presidential succession and regional power rotation remaining prominent in debates over Nigeria’s political future.
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