Former Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom, has declared that he will not support a northern candidate for Nigeria’s presidency in 2027, insisting that the south must be allowed to complete its eight-year tenure before power returns to the north.
Speaking with journalists in Makurdi on Thursday, Ortom emphasized the need to respect the country’s power rotation arrangement.
“Till today, I, Ortom, believe in a southern presidency; even if my party [the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)] is producing a candidate for presidency in 2027, the candidate must be from the south,” he said.
Ortom argued that President Bola Tinubu, a southerner from Lagos, should be allowed to complete his term and potentially another if re-elected, following the eight-year rule of Muhammadu Buhari, a northerner from Katsina, from 2015 to 2023.
“South should be allowed to complete eight years. So, I do not support a northern candidate. There is an unwritten constitution in this country that the north should rule for eight years and the south [should also govern for] eight years.” Ortom declared firmly
The former governor stressed that anything short of this arrangement would be unacceptable.
“Anything that is not a southern presidency, I’m not in. It is wrong. We must work together as a people for our unity and diversity. The common thing we have agreed on in this country is eight years for the north and eight for the south,” he added.
Ortom also dismissed growing talks about a possible opposition coalition under the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027.
“Politics is a game of interest. There are no permanent enemies, but permanent interests. What you are seeing is a normal thing in politics. It is nothing new,” he said.
He made it clear that the PDP is not part of any coalition effort at the moment but hinted at possible future alliances. “I don’t believe in coalition. There is nothing like a coalition at the moment. We are not doing a coalition with anybody,” Ortom stated.
