By Bayo Wahab

As opposition political leaders formed a coalition against President Bola Tinubu’s government, former political adviser to the President, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed dismissed the claim that northern politicians were behind the alliance.

Also, he said leaders of the coalition should work in the background for a generational shift.

The coalition is spearheaded by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and ex-governor of Kaduna Nasir el-Rufai.

Baba-Ahmed, who was former spokesperson for the Northern Elders Forum, NEF, made the points during an interview on Arise TV’s ‘Morning Show’ on Monday.

The sentiment that northern politicians are fond of establishing alliances against a southerner in power stemmed from the political coalition that birthed the now-ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, in 2013.

The coalition defeated the Goodluck Jonathan-led government in the 2015 presidential election, leading to the emergence of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

‘No northern coalition’

However, Baba-Ahmed has dismissed the narrative that northern political leaders ‘gang up’ to create coalitions each time a southerner is in power.

When asked why political coalitions only happen when a southerner leads the country, Baba-Ahmed said political alliances are not new in Nigeria, adding that all the coalitions that have happened in the country involved southerners.

“There are southerners involved in this talk about coalitions, too. You know Governor Amaechi is there, the former governor of Osun State (Rauf Aregbesola) is there. There are a lot of people from the southern part of the country.

“They love the south too, they don’t want to be second to the north. They are there. It’s not every time that when a Southerner is there, there have always been talks about coalitions,” he said.

Recalling how the coalition that defeated Jonathan’s government was formed, Baba-Ahmed said President Tinubu, a southerner, was instrumental in its formation.

“We formed a coalition in 2011/2012 with a southerner. His name is President Tinubu now. He gave us his bit of the of Nigeria, and we formed a coalition between the AD and the CPC, and we created the APC. It’s not a new thing. There have always been coalitions always,” he recalled.

‘Divisions among coalition’

Hakeem Baba-Ahmed also pointed out that there were divisions within the coalition.

He said: “There are divisions among coalition members. None of these people should lead or be seen in a position that they are determining who should be in that coalition.

“They can work behind the scenes. What they need is a generational shift and a political shift away from who they are, what they have done, and what they want to do.”

He said Nigerian needed “Different kinds of Nigerians who can give Nigerians hope, than people who have become vice president and contested three times; become governors and ministers.

“They (Nigerians) don’t have faith that you actually represent a different future from this government. You just want to replace the government of President Tinubu,” Baba-Ahmed said.

Vanguard News