High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, has urged Kano voters not to trust opposition presidential candidates who promise to serve only one term if elected.
Speaking through the Managing Director of Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, High Chief (Engr.) Kestin Pondi, at the launch of the PBAT Door-to-Door Movement in Kano on Sunday, Tompolo said President Bola Tinubu should be allowed to complete a second term before power returned to the North in 2031 in line with the nation’s informal rotational arrangement.
Tompolo urged voters to be wary of campaign promises from another southern presidential candidate who has pledged to serve only one term.
“No presidential candidate can come here to tell us that he wants to be elected for four years and actually keep to his promise to stay for four years. For President Bola Ahmed Tinubu he is about rounding up his first four years. He doesn’t have reasons to deceive us, he is meant to serve just another four years and we will all rally around your preferred northern candidate for the presidency in 2031.
“Our plea to the very good and great people of Kano State is that, don’t allow anybody to deceive you that they will come and do just four years from the scratch; anybody that comes to tell you that is coming to deceive you. Every elected politician wants to stay for eight years as provided in the constitution.
“We move from Door-to-Door. We move from Market-to-market. We move from house-to-house, we move from mosque-to-mosque. We move from ward to ward and we ensure that we tell the people the good things President Bola Tinubu has done,” he stated.
Tompolo acknowledged that the Tinubu administration’s reforms had been accompanied with hardship but argued they had also increased allocations to states, enabling governors to execute projects and meet salary and pension obligations.
“Yes, reforms come with peculiar challenges. But if you want to change a system, it will come with its challenges.
“The economic policies introduced by President Bola Ahmed have given more money to the various states and this has helped different governors execute projects, pay salaries, pay pension and carry out duties that are expected of governors,” he stressed.
He also praised Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf for what he described as investments in infrastructure and education, and commended him for joining the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In his remarks, Yusuf said Kano supported Tinubu’s second-term bid and described rotational presidency as a stabilising principle.
“It is my humble decision to align myself with the policies of the Federal Government under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Let me say that Kano State is behind the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces one hundred percent,” he stated.
The governor said the North would support Tinubu to complete the South’s turn in office.
“We made a promise that because of the effort of the president in ensuring the provision of infrastructure in all sectors of the economy, including human capital development, we decided from this side of the region to support his candidature and reelection by the grace of Allah, come January 2027,” he emphasised.
He also defended the principle of power rotation.
“Let me reiterate that Nigeria’s unity is uncompromised. Nigerians have decided to come together as a people, Nigeria has decided that as with the initial agreement in the last two decades, that the north will be in control of the presidency for eight consecutive years and the north will hand over to the south for another eight consecutive years. I want to say for the last administration, a northerner was elected, our late president, Mohammed Buhari,stayed in government for eight years and at the end of his tenure, power was handed over to the south and then, Nigerians decided to elect President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“President Bola Tinubu has served Nigeria for over three years and we are now coming for another election, it is therefore our responsibility as Nigerians, as respected people, to agree that the President should be reelected for another term of four years,” the governor stated.
Earlier, National Coordinator of the PBAT Door-to-Door Movement, Comrade Sunday Adekanbi Asuku, urged Kano residents to support Tinubu’s re-election, citing federal appointments and infrastructure projects in the state.
“We are here to seek full support and to gather a pyramid of votes for the reelection of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027. The reason is simple and short, President Tinubu has done for Kano what he has not done even for Lagos State.
“Today, over 40 federal appointees are from Kano State. Today, you have the Kano Northern Bypass which is 37 km with 10 bridges. Today under this administration, there is the Kano- Kaduna standard gauge rail connected to Kano to Abuja and beyond. Today, we have the Kano- Daura Rail line and so many other projects. And that is why we are here to make you understand that you should not be carried away by the frivolities of people under the guise of opposition. They don’t mean well for Nigeria.
“But on the other side, President Tinubu has done well in the past three years, and if we give him the opportunity, he would consolidate on the foundation he has led for the past three and a half years,” he said.
