Nigeria’s political arena shook on Sunday night as Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, former Northern Elders Forum spokesperson, heavily criticised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s leadership, declaring that the President should abandon any dream of seeking re-election in 2027 because he “can’t run this government.”
Baba-Ahmed, who recently resigned as Special Adviser on Political Matters to the Vice-President, unleashed the surprising verdict during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
The elder statesman said the once-formidable political mastermind Nigerians expected to “fix things” has gone missing in action.
He said, “I’m sorry, but I have to say this again. When I left his administration, one of the things I told many people was, ‘I wish President Tinubu would not run again in 2027.’
“First, he said his ambition was to be president, and he has now achieved that. He said, ‘emi lokan’, and he had his turn. But I don’t think he has run the country well.
“The Tinubu we used to know, the Tinubu with all this brilliant intelligence for scheming, hasn’t shown that same hunger to fix things.
“He should find a replacement within his party, a younger person, a healthier person, a more focused person, and make him his candidate.”
Baba-Ahmed didn’t stop there. He accused Tinubu of failing to channel his vast political machinery into actual governance.
He said:
“He can, if he can run this government, get all these people out of the PDP to come and join him; he has amongst every power that he needs, but he’s not running the country.
“Let’s go back to this Trump thing — I didn’t see a president who should respond to an emergency or a challenge in this manner, with the manner and spirit that he should. I didn’t see it. And it’s not just on this issue.”
With Nigeria battling economic hardship, insecurity, and growing despair, Baba-Ahmed warned that the nation cannot continue pretending all is well.
He said, “The truth is that Nigeria has deteriorated so badly that we cannot continue to run things as if they’re normal.”
