Onanuga: Tinubu will complete eight-year tenure like Buhari

Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, has said the President will complete an eight-year tenure in office, just as his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, did. Onanuga made the remark on Thursday while responding to comments by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar regarding power rotation between the North and South. Abubakar had, […]

Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, has said the President will complete an eight-year tenure in office, just as his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, did.

Onanuga made the remark on Thursday while responding to comments by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar regarding power rotation between the North and South.

Abubakar had, during an appearance on Arise TV on Wednesday, questioned the current balance of power since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999. He noted that the South had held the presidency for a longer period and posed the question: “The South has governed for 18 years and the North for 10, so who is in the deficit?” He also indicated that the 2027 general election would be his final attempt at the presidency.

Reacting via a post on X, Onanuga described Abubakar’s position as “self-serving” and contrary to the established zoning arrangement.

“Once again, Abubakar Atiku has put forward a self-serving argument to justify his attempt to disrupt Nigeria’s power rotation arrangement,” Onanuga said.

He added that Abubakar, while contesting the 2023 election under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), ignored the party’s zoning principle.

“In 2023, as a member of the PDP—a party that, like others, practices zoning—Atiku disregarded the established formula and sought to succeed a fellow northerner, who had spent eight years in office,” he said.

According to Onanuga, that decision contributed to internal divisions within the party and its eventual loss at the polls.

“His ambition fractured the PDP, leading to his resounding defeat at the polls. Now, he stands poised to repeat history and face another doom. Another spectacular failure awaits this perennial candidate in the next election,” he said.

Onanuga also argued that Abubakar failed to consider the circumstances that affected the North’s time in office, particularly the death of former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in 2010, which led to the succession of Goodluck Jonathan.

“He conveniently overlooks the fact that the North’s shorter tenure was due to the untimely death of President Umaru Yar’Adua, which led to President Jonathan’s succession,” Onanuga said.

“This accidental breach does not invalidate the power rotation arrangement between the North and the South.

“Since Buhari completed his eight years, Tinubu too must complete his own,” he added.

Abubakar has contested the presidency multiple times, appearing on the ballot in 2007, 2019, and 2023.