Chuks Okocha in Abuja
Ahead of the 2027 general election, key northern stakeholders on the platform of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) and the National Political Consultative Group (NPCG), have initiated moves to forge a united political front for the region, with plans to convene a Northern Unity Summit in early 2026.
The plan, according to the conveners, will rally traditional rulers, religious leaders and political actors across the 19 northern states to promote unity and collective political action reminiscent of the late Premier of the Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello’s era of inclusiveness.
Speaking at the NPCG expanded meeting held yesterday in Abuja, the Director General of the Northern Elders Forum NEF, Prof. Doknan Sheni, said the first step towards restoring the region’s strength lies in addressing both internal and external factors responsible for its disunity.
Sheni, who spoke on the theme “The Imperative of Northern Unity Ahead of 2027 Elections,” warned that unless identity-related issues are properly managed, “the North, and by extension Nigeria, may continue to slide into deeper ethno-religious fragmentation.”
He urged northern leaders to launch massive enlightenment campaigns ahead of 2027 to reorient voters toward ideology, principles and credible party manifestos rather than emotional or sectional sentiments.
“If the north is to prepare and unite for the 2027 elections, there must be massive enlightenment programmes among the electorate so that the citizens vote based on ideology, principles and real manifestos of parties and candidates and not based on sentiments.
“There must be training of INEC staff, particularly the ad hoc staff, to know how to use the gadgets used in voting. INEC must build confidence in the populace in how they conduct and transmit election results. They must ensure there is transparency on how elections are conducted”, he said.
Calling for a Northern Leaders’ Summit in the first quarter of 2026, Sheni said the event would harmonize ideas and produce a Northern Development Blueprint, with representatives from each state contributing to a shared vision for political and economic advancement.
“For the north to unite towards the 2027 elections, there should be a summit of northern leaders sometime in the first quarter of 2026 or thereabouts to harmonize ideas and plan for the elections. The two major operating factors that influence voters’ election patterns – religion and ethnicity – must be addressed at that summit,” he noted.
Sheni cautioned against external manipulation of internal divisions, warning that political actors from other regions could exploit northern disunity to weaken its influence in national politics.
He said; “There may be other political interests by other Nigerians to wedge and exploit political, religious and ethnic differences within northerners so that they could get inroads into the region.
“If we permit these differences among us to be exploited by other politicians outside our region, then we have agreed to be permanently divided.
“We should do everything possible to narrow and minimize these differences. No matter the cause of the disunity, when we, northerners, close ranks and begin to treat one another with respect and justice, most of the issues causing disunity will disappear.”
The NEF DG emphasised that a cohesive political front was essential for the North to negotiate equitable representation, influence national policy direction, and strengthen its hand in resource and power-sharing arrangements.
He observed that Northern Nigeria continues to face disproportionate security threats, including terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and farmer-herder conflicts, which demand coordinated and unified regional responses.
“The Northern States Governors’ Forum, Northern Elders’ Forum, the Arewa Consultative Forum and traditional rulers’ forum should hold meetings to align regional strategies for security and development,” Sheni said.
He also urged renewed investment drives through initiatives such as the Northern Nigeria Investment and Industrialisation Summit (NNIIS), aimed at promoting public-private partnerships and tackling unemployment and youth restiveness.
President Suluhu Declared Winner of Tanzanian Election with 98% Votes, Amid Widespread Violence
Tanzania’s electoral commission has declared President Samia Suluhu Hassan winner of the disputed election.
According to the results announced early yesterday, she won with nearly 98 per cent of the votes.
The election had set off violent protests across the country, with around 700 deaths, according to the opposition.
A spokesperson for the Chadema opposition party, John Kitoka, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that hundreds of people had been killed.
“As we speak, the figure for deaths in Dar es Salaam is around 350 and for Mwanza it is 200-plus. Added to figures from other places around the country, the overall figure is around 700,” he said.
He added that the toll could be much higher because killings could be happening during a night-time curfew that was imposed from Wednesday.
A security source told AFP there had been reports of more than 500 dead, “maybe 700-800 in the whole country”.
Amnesty International said it had received information that at least 100 people had been killed.
Kitoka said Chadema’s numbers had been gathered by a network of party members going to hospitals and health clinics and “counting dead bodies”.
He demanded that the government “stop killing our protesters” and called for a transitional government to pave the way for free and fair elections. “Stop police brutality. Respect the will of the people which is electoral justice,” Kitoka said.
The government dismissed the opposition’s death toll as “hugely exaggerated” and has rejected criticism of its human rights record.
The Tanzanian authorities had imposed a nationwide curfew and restricted access to the internet.
Foreign Affairs Minister, Mahmoud Thabit Kombo, on Friday denied allegations that security services had used excessive force, saying there had only been a “very few small pockets” of incidents caused by criminal elements.
But U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a thorough and impartial investigation into all allegations of excessive use of force.
President Hassan is seeking her first full term in office after assuming power in March 2021 following the death of her predecessor, John Pombe Magufuli.
Aside from Suhu, who ran under the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, 16 other candidates were in the election.
However, the absence of key opposition figures, either barred, disqualified, or facing legal battles, cast a long shadow over the legitimacy of the contest
There were protests on election day over what demonstrators said was the stifling of the opposition after the exclusion of key candidates from the presidential ballot.
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