A prominent chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Mohammed Shitu, has declared that only former Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (Retd.), holds the influence to determine the direction of Northern votes in the 2027 general elections.
Speaking during an interview in Abuja over the weekend, Shitu dismissed growing speculation on whether President Bola Ahmed Tinubu can inherit the traditional 12 million Northern votes that were associated with the late President Muhammadu Buhari.
“As far as we are concerned, the only man in the North today who commands the respect and national reach to influence voters across Nigeria is General Ibrahim Babangida,” Shitu said. “Anyone seeking Northern votes must go to Minna and consult the oracle of our time.”
Shitu described Buhari as a political creation of Babangida, stating that the former Head of State was instrumental in building the former president’s political base.
In response to assumptions that President Tinubu's appointment of Mohammed Babangida, son of the former president, as Chairman of the Bank of Agriculture (BoA) was politically motivated, Shitu dismissed the claim, arguing that the appointment was based on merit.
“A father can belong to Party A, and the son to Party B,” he said. “Mohammed Babangida is qualified in his own right, having established successful ventures in agriculture and other sectors.”
Shitu, who was also a presidential aspirant in the past, reflected on the legacy of the late President Buhari.
He praised Buhari’s military-era programs like War Against Indiscipline (WAI), but regretted that the former president failed to replicate similar success during his civilian tenure from 2015 to 2023.
“May Allah forgive his shortcomings.
If he had died as General Buhari, the whole of Daura would not contain the people coming to honor him. Unfortunately, his civilian administration exposed his weaknesses,” Shitu lamented.
He attributed some of Buhari’s underperformance to poor health, noting that his inability to monitor subordinates created a vacuum in leadership.
On the creation of the Ministry of Livestock by the Tinubu administration, Shitu applauded the initiative, describing it as a step in the right direction toward resolving the persistent farmers-herders conflict.
He urged the President to ensure full implementation.
“This was my proposal to Buhari, but he ignored it,” Shitu revealed. “As Chairman of Ranch Management in Bayelsa,
I successfully established ranches with zero conflict from 2016 to 2020. If Tinubu implements it properly, it will bring lasting peace.”
