Categories: Politics

Tinubu, Atiku clash over Buhari’s northern support base

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar

Tinubu, Atiku clash over Buhari’s northern support base

NIGERIA’s march toward 2027 has reached a point of no return. Quiet realignments have burst into bold declarations of loyalty, and long-standing alliances are now being tested in dramatic fashion.

The latest twist: loyalists of late former President Muhammadu Buhari have shifted allegiance to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, even as President Bola Tinubu staged a high-profile visit to Buhari’s family in Kaduna.

The stakes could not be higher. This is no longer about personalities alone, it is about who truly inherits Buhari’s political bloc.

Realignment game changer

A few days ago, State chairmen of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, Buhari’s original political platform, held a private meeting at Atiku’s residence in Abuja.

Once regarded as the backbone of Buhari’s northern power base, these figures declared firm support for Atiku’s coalition under the African Democratic Congress, ADC.

One CPC leader left no room for doubt: “Bring it out, make it visible. Politics does not operate in the corner; bring your politics out. That is essentially what we are here to emphasise. We are the true followers of Buhari, and we are here today, Sir… The CPC bloc is intact. President Muhammadu Buhari has left an unprecedented mark in the history of this country, and we will not allow it to be lost.”

It was more than a protest. It was a direct challenge, one capable of shifting the centre of gravity in northern politics, across states where Buhari’s name still commands emotional and organisational weight.

Atiku’s loyalty embrace

Atiku welcomed the group without ambiguity, casting the meeting as part of a struggle to protect what Buhari stood for.

Contest for Buhari’s northern base

At the heart of this contest is Buhari’s enduring influence. His farewell address in 2023 had included these words: “I am confident that I am leaving office with Nigeria better in 2023 than in 2015.”

For CPC loyalists, this legacy cannot be casually transferred. They argue that the APC, under its current leadership, has drifted from the principles that once gave it strength.

One former CPC state chairman invoked the familiar names: Malami, El-Rufai, insisting they still embody CPC loyalty in contrast to newer figures in power.

These comparisons are not mere rhetoric. They feed a broader narrative: that under Tinubu, the APC has ‘derailed’ from its founding values, and that the battle for those values now shapes the future of both the party and the wider political field.

Tinubu’s Kaduna visit

Amid this charged atmosphere, President Tinubu visited Kaduna, weekend. He attended the wedding of Nasirudeen Yari, son of Senator Abdul’aziz Yari of Zamfara West, and also paid a courtesy visit to Aisha Buhari, widow of the late President, at the family home.

Presented as a gesture of respect, the trip nonetheless carried unavoidable symbolism. Was it a sincere display of loyalty, or a strategic move to reclaim fragments of Buhari’s political base?

The optics were powerful: the sitting president, standing in Buhari’s home, addressing his family, and reasserting his presence in the northern networks where Buhari’s name still resonates.

Memory and grassroots power

This is more than a clash of personalities. It is a duel over memory; over who defines what Buhari represented.

Atiku, by embracing the CPC bloc, casts himself as custodian of Buhari’s grassroots networks and emotional capital. Tinubu, by appearing in Kaduna, projects himself as Buhari’s rightful political heir in the public gaze.

Without strong governors or local alliances, symbols may not be enough. Yet in Nigeria, symbols often pave the way for substance, particularly when the memory of a past leader still inspires devotion.

Mobilisation battle

Voter registration has become a flashpoint. Atiku and the ADC are pushing numbers, while Tinubu’s APC seeks to guard its northern fortress.

If Buhari’s traditional base shifts, the APC risks collapse in areas once seen as impregnable. For Tinubu, this means shoring up loyalty through gestures of respect, like his Kaduna visit. For Atiku, it means proving that the CPC bloc’s support is more than theatre by translating it into registration drives, grassroots loyalty, and electoral strength.

Legacy trial

Nigeria is witnessing one of its most visible ‘legacy trials’ since the birth of the APC. Buhari’s political weight, once assumed to be locked within APC, is now contested.

If Tinubu cannot hold the line, the APC risks being cast as a party in decline. If Atiku and the ADC can turn symbolic gestures into tangible structures, they may capture both the narrative and the votes.

A showdown underway

The stage for 2027 has already shifted. Buhari’s loyalists have chosen their path. Atiku has seized the moment. Tinubu’s Kaduna visit stands as a dramatic counter-move.

The question is no longer who will inherit Buhari’s legacy, but how deeply loyalties will shift, and whether they will be enough to redraw the electoral map.

One thing is undeniable: last weekend’s moves were not politics as usual. They were the opening shots in a struggle over legacy that could decide the fate of APC, ADC, and the shape of Nigeria’s leadership in 2027.