Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State, has urged political and traditional leaders across Southern Nigeria to unite in shielding President Bola Tinubu from a small group of northern elites allegedly plotting to thwart his 2027 re-election bid.
Speaking with journalists on Sunday in Osogbo, Oyintiloye said Tinubu had consistently supported the political aspirations of the North and deserved to enjoy the region’s backing for his second term.
He expressed concern that, historically, a few influential individuals from the North have often formed cliques to frustrate the re-election of any sitting Southern president.
“This has been recurring, and the nation’s political history will not forget the kind of intimidation Southern presidents have often suffered at the hands of a very few men from the North who always mount serious opposition to their re-election bids.
“But in the case of President Bola Tinubu, he has done enough to get the support of the major power bloc in the North,” he said.
The former lawmaker, who served as a member of the defunct APC Presidential Campaign Council, urged Southern political leaders and royal fathers not to lend support to “rejected politicians” from the North working against Tinubu.
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He also appealed to Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife and chairman of the Council of Southern Traditional Rulers; the Obi of Obinugwu, Cletus Illomuanya; King Jaja of Opobo, Dandeson Jaja; and the Dein of Agbor, Benjamin Ikenchuku Keagborekuzi I, to champion support for the President within the South and collaborate with their northern counterparts to secure his 2027 victory.
Oyintiloye further called on eminent Southern figures, including former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, and former Senate president Ken Nnamani, to stand firm against any attempt by “a handful of northern power mongers” to derail Tinubu’s second-term ambition.
He expressed confidence that Tinubu’s re-election would stabilise Nigeria and ensure fairness in the federal government’s developmental agenda across all regions.
