Tambuwal vows to ensure Tinubu is kicked out in 2027, says he’ll support Atiku over Wike

Former Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, says he is fully committed to ensure President Bola Tinubu is booted out of power in 2027 through a democratic process.

The serving senator, while speaking on Channels Politics Today on Friday, said he is joining forces with other influential politicians across the country to thwart  Tinubu’s second term bid.

He said his decision to ensure Tinubu’s moves to win  2027 presidential election is thwarted was not based on Northern agenda, saying that Nigerians from other regions like Peter Obi, Rauf Aregbesola, among others, are in the same coalition aimed at bringing on board new democratic leadership for the country.

On  Nigeria’s leadership, Tambuwal said would stand with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar rather than Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.

Tambuwal stressed that his political stance is shaped by principles of leadership rather than personal ties.

“When it comes to leadership of this country and leadership of the people, tomorrow, not even today, I would rather support Atiku than Nyesom Wike,” he said.

The remark comes despite a history of political interactions between Wike and Tambuwal. In 2023, the former Rivers governor accused Tambuwal, Atiku, and Bukola Saraki of reneging on a PDP zoning agreement that was meant to shift the presidential ticket to the South.

“There’s nobody contesting for the presidency from the north that I do not have a relationship with…that I don’t support,” Wike had said at the time. “And there’s no one of them who has not come to me, Wike, and said, ‘with you, I think I’ll have my way…but if we agree on something, let’s keep to it.”

Wike also recalled supporting Tambuwal’s bid to become Speaker of the House of Representatives when the PDP leadership initially preferred another candidate.

But Tambuwal maintained in his latest remarks that his support for Atiku during the 2023 PDP presidential primary was not rooted in hostility. He clarified that he has always kept cordial relationships with leaders across political lines.

“It is a collaboration; it is not something difficult. Once it is about being altruistic and nothing personal. You have never seen me going against President Bola Tinubu personally, you have never heard of me going against Nyesom Wike personally,” he said.

He added that even his disagreements with former President Goodluck Jonathan were strictly about principles and governance direction.

“We disagreed on principle, the way, and the direction things are going. I had no problem personally with Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, but we disagreed, and I left PDP for APC,” Tambuwal explained.

The former governor emphasised that friendship and political leadership are separate issues.

“It is not about my friendship with you, and I am saying this with all sense of responsibility. If Atiku Abubakar comes in here and Wike requests my phone, which is personal to me, I will personally give it to Wike as a personal friend,” he stated.