By Seyi Odewale
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, has called on political and traditional leaders across Southern Nigeria to stand firm in protecting President Bola Tinubu from a handful of northern elites allegedly plotting to thwart his re-election bid in 2027.
Speaking with journalists on Sunday in Osogbo, Oyintiloye warned that a “splinter clique” in the North had a history of undermining Southern presidents by resorting to political blackmail and calculated opposition aimed at hijacking power.
“This has been a recurring pattern in our political history,” Oyintiloye said. “Whenever a Southerner is in power, a tiny section of northern elites mounts serious opposition to block his second-term bid. In President Tinubu’s case, he has done enough to earn the North’s support, so these few mischief makers should be put in their place.”
The former lawmaker and member of the defunct APC Presidential Campaign Council stressed that Tinubu had always been a friend to the North and supported its political causes, making the current antagonism from a minority group unjustifiable.
He urged recognised political leaders and royal fathers in the North not to allow the “self-appointed northern power brokers” to drag the region into needless political hostility.
Oyintiloye also appealed to Southern political leaders and traditional rulers to resist being used as tools by “rejected politicians” from the North.
“This is why Southern leaders must rise and rally behind President Tinubu,” he said. “This support is necessary to end the consistent negative political trajectory that often greets the second-term ambitions of Southern presidents. They should shield the President against unwarranted attacks from just a handful of northern politicians.”
He specifically called on the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, who chairs the Council of Southern Traditional Rulers, alongside co-chairs Obi of Obinugwu, Cletus Illomuanya, and King Jaja of Opobo, Dandeson Jaja, as well as the council’s Secretary, the Dein of Agbor, Benjamin Ikenchuku Keagborekuzi I, to champion Tinubu’s cause within the region.
Oyintiloye also urged elder statesmen such as former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka, and former Senate President Ken Nnamani to “rise to the occasion and stop the repeat of negative history” by defending Southern political interests.
He concluded that Tinubu’s re-election in 2027 would help stabilise the country and ensure fairness in the federal government’s development agenda across all regions.
