Northerners have no moral right to reject Tinubu in 2027– Shehu Sani
The senator who represented Kaduna Central at the National Assembly, from 2015 to 2019, Shehu Sani, has said northerners have no moral right to vote out President Bola Ahmed Tinubu come the 2027 general elections over the controversial tax reform bills. Sani, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and human rights activist, said […]
Shehu Sani
The senator who represented Kaduna Central at the National Assembly, from 2015 to 2019, Shehu Sani, has said northerners have no moral right to vote out President Bola Ahmed Tinubu come the 2027 general elections over the controversial tax reform bills.
Sani, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and human rights activist, said northerners opposing Tinubu’s tax reform bills had failed to criticise and hold to account, the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari which “failed.”
Daily Trust reports that President Tinubu transmitted four tax reform bills to the National Assembly last year but the bills ignited serious controversies with critical stakeholders from the North, including governors, elders, traditional rulers, civil society organisations (CSO), calling for their withdrawal.
Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed, was quoted as saying, “The current tax reform is not only hasty but unfair in its design. It risks concentrating revenue streams at the centre while depriving states like Bauchi of the funds needed to cater to our people. If this continues, we will have no choice but to show our true colours.”
But Shehu Sani, in an interview with the Sun yesterday, asked the North to reorganise itself and see how the northerners who are in Tinubu’s government could contribute to the region’s development.
He said Buhari appointed northerners into offices but they did not serve the interests of the North, adding that northerners refused to voice out under the administration of Buhari despite its “many failures.”
He said, “Let us tell ourselves the home truth. When our own was in power for 96 months, what did he do? For all the failures, people kept quiet. They refused to hold him to account. They refused to criticise him. They refused to say we voted for you and you failed.
“For eight years, he couldn’t construct any major road to Northern Nigeria. He spent eight years, yet he couldn’t activate the Mambila power plant. He spent eight years; he couldn’t revive or dredge the River Niger.”
The former lawmaker said “He spent eight years; he couldn’t dualise the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano express route. He spent eight years; he couldn’t dualise the Kano, Kaduna, and Lagos express route. He spent billions of naira in the name of agriculture for which there is nothing to show.
“He appointed northerners into offices and they have not served the interests of the North. So, if you cannot hold your son to account, if you kept quiet, if you remained silent, if you folded your arms during Buhari’s administration, what conscience do you have now to threaten someone else with re-election?”
However, in November last year, the Secretary-General of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Murtala Aliyu, rejected the claims in some quarters that it criticised President Tinubu’s administration because the president is a southerner.
He insisted that it criticised the present administration with the same vigour it applied in its criticism of the administration of former President Buhari.