A fresh political skirmish has broken out between the camp of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the Presidency, after a senior aide to President Bola Tinubu suggested that the incumbent “must complete eight years” in office before power returns to the North.

The row over rotation was triggered by remarks made by presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, who, reacting to a live interview Atiku granted Arise TV, invoked the North-South power rotation convention to argue that the South must retain the presidency until 2031, having succeeded a northern president who served two terms.

The comments drew an immediate and pointed response from Phrank Shaibu, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication to Atiku Abubakar, who dismissed the argument as unconstitutional, anti-democratic and driven by fear of a credible opposition.

Shaibu, writing on his X handle @phrankangel, challenged the legal and moral basis of Onanuga’s position, insisting that no presidential aide had the authority to reduce Nigeria’s democracy to a regional entitlement arrangement. “Power rotation is a political convention, not a constitutional decree — and certainly not a tool to silence credible opposition,” he wrote.

Shaibu accused the Presidency of hypocrisy, arguing that those now championing rotation had themselves ignored zoning within their own party when it suited their interests. “The same people who shredded zoning within their own party when it suited them now pretend to be its custodians. Hypocrisy has never worn such a cheap costume,” Shaibu said.

He also pushed back against the suggestion that zoning cost Atiku the 2023 presidential election, attributing that outcome instead to what he called institutional interference and electoral irregularities.

“The 2023 election was not lost because of zoning. It was lost through a toxic cocktail of state-backed interference, institutional compromise, and electoral irregularities that Nigerians have not forgotten,” he wrote.

Shaibu further took issue with any political reference to the death of former President Umaru Yar’Adua as justification for arguments about rotational equity, describing such reasoning as morally indefensible.

“Invoking the unfortunate passing of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as a political excuse in 2026 is not just disingenuous — it is morally bankrupt,” he said.

On the central question of Tinubu’s tenure, Shaibu said, “The notion that Tinubu ‘must complete eight years’ is the most anti-democratic statement anyone can make in a constitutional republic. Presidents are not crowned for eight years — they are elected, and they can be voted out. That is the essence of democracy your camp seems to have conveniently forgotten.”

He also defended the opposition’s coalition-building efforts, dismissing Onanuga’s comments about Peter Obi’s reported departure from the African Democratic Congress as evidence of panic within the ruling camp. “You don’t dictate who joins or leaves a coalition — you only expose your fear when you try. If your government had anything solid to campaign on, you wouldn’t be busy hallucinating cracks in the opposition.

“Atiku does not need your permission to run. He does not need validation from aides who confuse loyalty with noise. And come 2027, it will not be aides, nor propaganda, nor recycled talking points that decide Nigeria’s future — it will be the Nigerian people. And they are watching. Closely,” he said.

Otti, Abure for Tinubu

Meanwhile, National Vice Chairman (South-West) of the Julius Abure faction in the Labour Party, Dr. Abayomi Arabambi, in an interview with Vanguard on Thursday in Abuja, confirmed that both Governor Otti and Abure had aligned with a decision to back President Tinubu’s re-election — a position he presented as an agreed stance within their faction.

“Governor Otti, I repeat, and Abure, they have agreed to vote for Tinubu for their contract. Quote me,” he said.

Arabambi said the principal fault line within the broader LP family was not this arrangement but rather the question of former presidential candidate Peter Obi, whose return to active LP politics has been championed by the faction loyal to Senator Nenadi Usman’s Caretaker Committee.

“Nenadi insisted on bringing Obi back and that’s because Obi did not resign. I challenge anyone — give me video where Obi resigned from the Labour Party. That guy is a political mascot. You can never know where he is going,” he said.

Arabambi also addressed the legal and constitutional battle between the Abure faction and the caretaker committee, arguing that such a structure has no basis in the Labour Party’s constitution. “We do not have such a constitution — we do not even have this structure called Interim Caretaker,” he said.

Arabambi disclosed that the Abure faction had appeared before the Court of Appeal on Tuesday, where he said even the Nenadi committee recognised Abure as the “National Chairman” of the party, while referring to themselves only as “Caretaker.” “Even before the Court of Appeal, they referred to Abure as the National Chairman of the party,” he said.

INEC Code

Arabambi confirmed that the Abure faction was actively conducting membership registration using an INEC-assigned code, in preparation for the 2027 electoral cycle, despite the unresolved internal dispute.

He said, “We are currently conducting our membership registration because we need to submit our digital register of members to INEC latest May 10.”

Asked why the commission would give his faction such a code when it currently recognises the Nenadi committee, Arabambi said: “We are both still in court. They (INEC) gave us the code and also gave to the other people because they don’t know how the case would pan out. We are going to pursue it to the Supreme Court. So, if you don’t give us the code and we win at the end of the day, how do we then register members and submit our digital register?”

He also noted that a motion for stay of execution had been filed before the Court of Appeal, which he said prevented the rival faction from acting on any lower court judgment.

Neither the Deputy Director of Voter Education and Publicity at INEC, Mr. Ilfred Ifogah, nor the National Commissioner in charge of Information and Voter Education, Mallam Mohammed Kudu Haruna, responded to queries regarding Arabambi’s claims on the codes.

Separately, the Abure group also petitioned President Tinubu, calling for the reversal of what it described as the unlawful transfer of the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner for Osun State, Barrister Mutiu Agboke, and raising constitutional questions about his replacement.

The petition, dated April 16, 2026, was signed by Arabambi, addressed to the President and copied to the Senate President, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the Inspector General of Police, INEC Chairman Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN, and all diplomatic missions in Nigeria.

At a news conference on Friday in Abuja, the faction claimed that Professor Amupitan had acted beyond his constitutional powers by transferring Barrister Agboke without following the process prescribed in the 1999 Constitution.

“The Chairman of INEC is a primus inter pares within the Commission, not an emperor with unilateral authority to transfer or dismiss commissioners appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate,” the petition stated.

Arabambi alleged that the transfer was triggered by a petition from the APC in Osun State, without any formal investigation or committee of inquiry being constituted.

“Where is the committee of investigation? Where are the terms of reference? Where is the evidence that Barrister Agboke was given a fair hearing, an opportunity to defend himself against these allegations?” the faction queried. (Vanguard)

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