Former lawmaker representing Oshodi/Isolo State Constituency 02 at the Lagos House of Assembly, Jude Idimogu, has drawn the attention of the North to the advantages they stand to gain if they support President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.
He made his mind known in an interview with journalists recently.
He said supporting another candidate from the south would make the north wait for another eight years instead of four years.
Aside from that, he stated that Nigerians have known Tinubu and what he is capable of doing, emphasising that the devil you know is better than the angel you don’t know.
He maintained that Tinubu has performed beyond average and should be supported in order to do eight years ultimately.
He stated that time was still too short to rate Tinubu, saying he needs at least four years or a whole eight years to rate his performance or compare him with his predecessors.
“Asiwaju Bola Tinubu should be allowed to complete his tenure. It is expected that every president that won election in Nigeria should, at least, complete his tenure of eight years.
“Already in Nigeria, we all know we rotate the presidency between North and South, and it is the Southern turn and Tinubu is pushing the Southern flag, which he won in 2023, and 2027 happens to be another tenure if he wins to complete his tenure.
“The Northerners have done their own through Muhammadu Buhari, and he did eight years even when people were complaining, so I think being the turn of the South and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as the flag bearer, they should just give him that support,” he said.
He noted that Tinubu is not a magician, adding that all hands must be on deck to get results. He stated that in leadership, Tinubu would not do everything and would not be everywhere at the same time. Noting that a tree cannot make a forest, he urged every elected or appointed leader in Nigeria to do their own side of the work as the president cannot do everything. “As I always say, a tree cannot make a forest, but I want people to understand that a tree can start a forest.
Given more reasons why it has become expedient for the North to support Tinubu, he said: “So, let me appeal to Northerners to give their support to Tinubu, so he can complete his eight years. Even if you say Tinubu is not good and you bring in another Southern president, he will like to go for another eight years, and that will be another disadvantage to the North. What the North needs to do, if they give the current president their support, he stays there from 2027 to 2031, they just have four years to endure, if I can use that word, then power will shift back to the North for them to do another eight years.
“If they do otherwise, the South will tell them, you have done your own eight years, allow us to do our own eighth years.
“It might be Tinubu, it might not be Tinubu, but the fact remains that if they allow Tinubu to finish his eight years, they have an advantage. One thing is that they have known Tinubu. The person you want to bring in, you need to start studying him again, and they don’t know what the person has up his sleeves. They know Tinubu up to 60 percent; the devil you know is still better than the angel you don’t know.”
Speaking on Tinubu’s economic policies, he said: “In terms of economic growth, I can say it is above average. However, I think he is also trying to ensure that the market determines prices. I think they are trying to get the realistic value of the Naira.
“Unfortunately, it is affecting everybody but I don’t think it was a deliberate policy to punish the people. The fact remains that we don’t have the foreign currency to back it up. When you look at the demand and supply stuff, it will tell you that when the demand is in excess and the supply is not, of course, the cost of goods and services will go up.
“We should also look at the issue of being more patriotic in buying our own products. We are too foreign conscious, we are too import dependent,” he said.