A newly formed socio-political movement, Nigeria Forward, has called on political stakeholders in Northern Nigeria to uphold the North-South power rotation principle and support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to complete a full eight-year tenure.
The group made the appeal at its formal unveiling in Abuja, positioning itself as a national bridge between government policy and citizens ahead of the 2027 elections.
Co-Convener of Nigeria Forward and Kano State Commissioner for Information and Internal Affairs, Comrade Ibrahim Abdullahi Waiya, said the movement believes abandoning the rotation arrangement after one term would risk political stability and reopen old sectional fault lines.
“Nigeria Forward draws membership from across the country and our core mandate is to promote national unity, inclusive governance and citizen engagement,” Waiya told the gathering.
He argued that the power-sharing understanding that has guided Nigeria’s democracy since 1999 has helped maintain balance between the North and South. “To return the presidency to the North after only four years will undermine that principle. It can potentially reopen sectional tensions that have historically shaped our presidential politics,” he said.
Waiya urged Northern leaders and voters to look beyond immediate electoral calculations and focus on continuity. He said allowing the Tinubu administration to serve eight years would give reforms time to mature and deliver results.
“The North should not seek to reclaim the presidency in 2027. We should place the broader interest of national unity and development above politics,” he added.
The Commissioner acknowledged the economic and security challenges the Tinubu government inherited in 2023. He said several reforms were already underway and needed time to yield impact.
He listed local government autonomy, higher allocations to sub-national governments, and ongoing work toward state police structures as key steps.
“Kano State has already inaugurated a committee on the implementation of state police. When fully rolled out, it can help with job creation and improve security,” Waiya said.
He cautioned, however, against blaming presidential politics alone for the North’s challenges. “Tackling poverty and underdevelopment requires all of us: citizens, state governments, local governments and other stakeholders. Democracy is a social contract,” he said.
Waiya described Nigeria Forward as a non-partisan platform “dedicated to all Nigerians,” not to any political party. He said the movement will push for bottom-to-top citizen engagement and ensure government programmes are understood at the community level.
Also speaking at the event, Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology and Co-Convener of Nigeria Forward, Dr. Kingsley Tochukwu Udeh, said the administration’s agenda was moving deliberately from policy to impact.
“The trajectory is clear: Reform to infrastructure, infrastructure to connectivity, connectivity to production, production to jobs and jobs to prosperity,” Udeh said.
He said Nigeria Forward will help close the information gap by tracking projects, investments and how government programmes affect ordinary Nigerians.
“We must not reduce our development story to political slogans. Let us examine what is being built, where projects are located, the problems they are designed to solve, and the people expected to benefit,” he said.
The Minister stressed that infrastructure must be measured by utility. Roads should connect farmers to markets. Railways should cut the cost of moving goods and people. Energy and digital connectivity, he said, are critical to expanding opportunities for young Nigerians.
Udeh called on Nigerians, especially in the North, to support President Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027. “Continuity will enable the administration to consolidate its ongoing reforms and development initiatives,” he said.
He urged members of Nigeria Forward to anchor their work on evidence, inclusiveness, innovation and national unity. “Our slogan is ‘Together We Move Nigeria Forward.’ It must translate into service, responsible citizenship and national development,” he added.
The declaration comes months before the 2027 general elections, at a time when debates about zoning and rotation are beginning to shape political alignments in both the North and South.
Since 1999, Nigeria’s two major parties have broadly alternated the presidency between the North and South, a convention credited with helping to manage regional competition for power.
With Tinubu, a Southerner, now in his second year, calls for an early return of power to the North have started to surface in some quarters. Nigeria Forward’s intervention signals an early counter-mobilization within the North in favor of completing the eight-year cycle.
The group said it will begin nationwide town halls and policy sensitization in the coming weeks to explain federal programmes and gather feedback from communities.
