•Baba-Ahmed and Tinubu
Former presidential adviser, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to consider stepping aside “for a new generation of Nigerians who can carry the nation forward with fresh energy and ideas”, in the 2027 general elections.
In an open letter made available yesterday to our correspondent, Baba-Ahmed appealed to Tinubu to shelve any plans of seeking re-election in 2027, reports Daily Trust.
‘Step aside to shape your legacy’
Baba-Ahmed argued that Tinubu’s best option for a dignified political exit would be to voluntarily step aside and allow younger leadership to emerge.
“Step aside — not for your opponents, but for a new generation of Nigerians who can carry the nation forward with fresh energy and ideas.
“Our generation has done its time. It would be a masterstroke if you and your party yielded the field to new voices and new leadership. That way, you could catalyse a peaceful, historic transformation and inspire a new political culture rooted in merit, unity, and progress,” he said.
He added that the president should reflect on the legacy he wishes to leave behind and how history will remember him.
“You hold what your opposition lacks: the power to reduce the harshness of life for the average Nigerian. Use it well. Watch 2027, yes—but don’t become consumed by it,” he advised.
Baba-Ahmed, who recently resigned as special adviser on political matters in the vice president’s office, acknowledged that the administration inherited a troubled economy and an exhausted populace. However, he criticised Tinubu’s inability to convert the momentum of his inauguration into “effective leadership”.
He described the Renewed Hope Agenda of the president as merely a set of campaign promises and not a coherent governance plan. He also criticised the composition of Tinubu’s cabinet, stating that more than half “has no business managing an administration tasked with improving security, livelihoods, or public trust”.
‘Don’t lose governance momentum chasing 2027’
Baba-Ahmed, who hinted that he never had a one-on-one meeting with President Tinubu throughout his 18 months in the presidency, warned against prioritising 2027 political ambitions over governance, cautioning that such could jeopardise any meaningful progress during the president’s current term.
“Two years is a long time—you can still achieve much. But if you shift attention now to electoral ambitions, you risk losing both governance momentum and public goodwill.
“If you win again without reforming your style and strategy, you may spend four more years preserving failure. If you lose, your legacy could be wiped out in an instant,” he warned.
He noted what he called discontent across the country’s geopolitical zones.
“The North is drifting from your leadership under the weight of economic hardship, insecurity, and alienation,” he said.
“The East remains politically disengaged, while the South-South is fragmented. The South-West has been lukewarm, and its privileged position may become a burden. The North-East is deeply wounded and can no longer be taken for granted.”
According to him, the administration’s focus should instead be on fixing pressing national issues.
‘Your governance is seen as disconnected and exclusive’
Baba-Ahmed said the president’s style of leadership has isolated him from the people and those who could help him succeed.
“Your closed-door style of leadership, your apparent indifference to complaints of ethnic bias in appointments, and the perception that you frequently run the country from abroad while attending to personal matters have created the image of an isolated leader heading an insular administration.
“Your inner and secondary circles do not reflect the discipline or inspiration necessary to transform Nigeria,” he added.
On the administration’s approach to communication and governance, he said, “You needed a strong engagement strategy—one capable of building national consensus or at least neutralising hostility. Instead, you’ve appointed a crowd of spokespersons who often confuse rather than clarify your policies.”
From presidential adviser to critic
Baba-Ahmed had, earlier on Saturday, cautioned that the North would no longer vote blindly or repeat the mistakes of the past, based on current political developments.
Speaking with journalists in Zaria during his daughter’s wedding, he said, “What I know is that in the next six months, we will witness a serious shift that will determine the future (political) direction of the North. Other regions could decide to follow us or we go alone—all I know is that no one will become Nigeria’s president without the North’s support.”
In response, the presidency alleged that Baba-Ahmed had aligned himself with the coalition of opposition parties being led by the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, and his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi.
Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, said the timing of Baba-Ahmed’s position — “just a few days after he resigned from the Tinubu-led administration”—reflected his character.
“President Tinubu is unfazed by the attacks of Baba-Ahmed and his co-travellers. We await his so-called revelations,” Onanuga stated.
Before his appointment in the Tinubu administration, Baba-Ahmed was already a well-known critic of past presidents, including Muhammadu Buhari and Goodluck Jonathan, especially on issues of governance, security, and national unity.
As spokesperson of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) in 2019, he described Buhari as “too slow,” criticising the government’s lethargy in confronting insecurity, while lamenting the worsening situation with banditry and kidnapping under Buhari’s leadership.
“If I have an opportunity to speak with the president, I will say: ‘Sir, please wake up and smell the coffee; this country is falling apart. It is in very serious danger, it is going down under your watch. You swore in 2015 and again in 2019 that you would protect citizens, the territorial integrity of Nigeria. Sorry, sir, you are not doing that, doing it well or you are not doing it at all”, he had said.
He had also criticised Jonathan’s handling of the Boko Haram insurgency and the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls. In 2014, the NEF, with Baba-Ahmed as a signatory, warned that Jonathan’s re-election chances would depend on the rescue of the kidnapped girls.
While serving as special adviser on political matters in the office of the vice president, Baba-Ahmed had a public clash with the minister of state for defence, Bello Matawalle, after the minister made disparaging remarks about the NEF.
Our correspondent was unable to get reaction from the Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, on the letter last night as the message sent to him was not responded to at press time.
‘Tinubu’s govt has delivered on campaign promises’
However, speaking on Channels Television yesterday, the National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Ajibola Basiru, said the Tinubu-led administration has lived up to its campaign promises. He rated the government’s performance at 78 percent.
“Since we came into power, we have established NELFUND, through which no fewer than half a million Nigerian students have benefited,” he said.
Basiru also highlighted the creation of CreditCorp to improve access to consumer credit for Nigerians and pointed to progress in the agricultural sector.
“We have stimulated agricultural production, which has contributed to a downward trend in food inflation. We have also addressed the shortage of funds for infrastructure development,” he said.
He cited ongoing infrastructure projects aimed at boosting economic growth, including the development of a coastal highway and expansion of the rail sector.
