The Northern Minority Alliance for Balanced Leadership (NOMAL) recently held a three-day retreat in Jos, Plateau State. The convener of the pressure group, Ibrahim Bunu, speaks with ISAAC SHOBAYO on the position of the group on some salient national issues, including the position of the North on the Federal Government’s Tax Reform Bills, regrouping of some political forces in the North towards 2027, among others.
IS the Northern ethnic minority on the same page with other pressure groups in the North on national issues?
On the issue of the Northern agenda, we want to make it categorically clear that we, the minorities in the North, are not part of the Northern agenda. The so-called ‘Northern Agenda’ does not represent or accommodate our interests. We are not part of any scheming to undermine President [Bola Tinubu] or to return to the divisive politics of the past. Instead, we stand firmly with a leader who has demonstrated a commitment to balanced governance, national unity, and inclusivity. There are different types of groups and individuals claiming to be speaking for the North; some of them are not force to be reckoned with at all and control no followership as they claimed. Many of them are making noise because it is no longer business as usual, forgetting that the tide has changed. The masses, especially the Northern minorities, are more at home with the policies and programmes of the present administration. Since the outbreak of insurgency in the North, no government has given much attention to the menace like the present administration and this gives credence to the relative peace in some parts of the North today. We don’t know the agenda they are pursuing, but our agenda as minorities in the North is to support the President Bola Tinubu-led administration to actualise its policies and programmes to the benefit of Nigerians at all levels. Let me tell you that the bashing from the North did not represent opinions of the downtrodden; it is a political ploy to whip up sentiment against the government for their personal interests and to blur his chances of returning to power in 2027. So they are not speaking for the entire North, and their agenda is not our agenda. We are not part of it.
But some of the governors in the North are not on the same page with the president over the Tax Reform Bills and other policies, and the governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, and the Arewa Consultative Forum seem to be speaking for the North, including the minorities in this regard. What is your opinion?
The governor of Bauchi State is not speaking for the North, which includes the minorities; he is speaking for himself because we don’t recognise him. We have never given him that leadership. There is no doubt about it, he is the governor of Bauchi State and chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum. He did not have our mandate to speak for us. He did not have our approval to speak on our behalf.
Some of the political bigwigs in the North, some of whom are stalwarts of All Progressives Congress (APC) alongside other political party members, are at the moment regrouping against the president come 2027. Don’t you think this gang-up up could be an albatross for the president in 2027?
The 2027 general election is going to be a one-way traffic. I can assure you that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will get more votes in the North than in 2023. Ganging up in any form will pose no threat or be a barrier. Those grouping and regrouping or trying to form alliances are just dissipating their energies in vain. Though what they are doing is legitimate politically, it won’t take them anywhere as far as 2027 is concerned. Nigerians have come to understand their political antics. They are just trying to be relevant, forgetting that everyone has his time and moment in politics. No one can take the Northern minorities for a ride anymore. We know what we want, but certainly not this kind of agenda some people are pursuing as the Northern Agenda. The idea, the ideology of my nationalities will be driven by our own people. We cannot be seen to be under anybody. Anyone that is going to speak for us must be from our own ethnic nationalities. We are not operating on the basis of religion. In our midst, there are Christians, Muslims and even pagans. There is no discrimination of any sort. The issue of marginalisation is not just for the minorities. Anyone that is, in any way, being suppressed in whatever category, maybe because of his religion or something, is a minority.
One of the grouses of some of the Northern elite is that appointments by the president are lopsided and skewed in favour of the Southern part of the country while the North, which voted massively for the president, is not adequately represented…
(Cuts in) On the issue of representation, we are aware of what happened in the last regime that the chunk of those appointed are from the far North. Despite all the complaints then, nothing changed. But this allegation of being sidelined at the moment is baseless. Go and do your research, you will discover that the North has quite a lot of appointees in this government. Those complaining should come out with facts and figures. There are some sensitive positions that are in the hands of Northerners. Take security, the National Security Adviser is Mallan Nuhu. Ribadu. Both the Minister of State and the Minister of Defence, Chief of Defence Staff, are they not from the North? These are sensitive posts. The appointments this time, especially with the inclusion of the Northern minorities, mark a significant shift from the historical marginalisation we experienced under previous administrations. They symbolise a leadership that prioritises equity and fairness in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious nation. There are other portfolios considered to be juicy being occupied by Northerners. All these are primordial sentiments that cannot hold water. President Tinubu’s leadership has been exemplary in promoting unity and bridging ethnic and regional divides. His administration reflects a genuine commitment to fostering a united Nigeria, where every citizen feels seen, heard, and represented. This approach is critical to maintaining peace and stability in our diverse nation. What we need in this country is the driven force to move the nation forward, not sentiment. It is not about the positions or whatever. The issue of insecurity, we could see changes. The issue of the economy that was bastardised in the last regime, we could see certain things are now being changed. The economy cannot be fixed overnight; it is a gradual process. But with the way things are going, the country will soon get out of the woods. All that is required at the moment is patience and understanding of the situation. Quite a lot of resources were wasted by the past administration, pretending to be what we are not. But based on the recent report by the federal government, things are beginning to take shape. The once moribund refineries are beginning to work; contracts are being awarded for construction of roads across highways in the country, like the federal government’s approval of £1.1 billion to dualise the Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe roads. These are critical economic arteries that have been neglected for decades and many other projects are on stream. At the moment, Port Harcourt and Warri refineries are working, and very soon Kaduna will roll out in the same manner. When the government is going in the right direction, let us applaud them, and if they are not doing so, let us tell them as well. It is wrong and it is unpatriotic to criticise the government for selfish reasons.
In the 2023 general election, the minorities in the North did not vote for President Tinubu; they voted for Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party on the premise of a Muslim-Muslim ticket. Tell me what has changed to warrant the recent support for the ticket you once condemned.
In 2023, most of the Northern minorities did not trust the Muslim-Muslim ticket, and that was why most of the Northern minorities, including some of us here, did not vote for Bola Ahmed Tinubu, but now we are pledging our support because we have been convinced that the issue of religion did not matter to him and that all he wants is the best for the country. Look at his administration, there is nothing like discrimination of any sort; he knows what he is doing. Some of the ‘Obidients’ in the North have switched allegiance to Tinubu and now obey him. We are pleading with Mr. Obi to shelve his ambitions of contesting the next presidential election and work with the incumbent president for his re-election because most of the Northern minorities if not all, are for Tinubu.
Are you saying Obi has no structure again in the North?
I can categorically tell you that most of the young ones that drove the Obi movement in the last elections are now with Bola Tinubu, and most of the structures of the movement are with Bola Tinubu and ready and willing to work for Tinubu come 2027.
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