The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has announced plans to establish a special committee to evaluate the impact of President Bola Tinubu’s policies, programmes, and projects on Northern Nigeria, ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Speaking at the Forum’s meeting in Kaduna on Wednesday, Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu, Chairman of the ACF Board of Trustees, said the committee would carry out a thorough review of the current administration’s governance, particularly in relation to its effects on the North. The goal, he noted, is to ensure that the region’s needs are not sidelined in the country’s political and developmental agenda.
“We have received several proposals from our elders to appoint a special committee that will conduct a detailed study of the policies, projects and programmes embarked upon by the current government, and determine how they have impacted various parts of the country—particularly Northern Nigeria,” Dalhatu said.
He emphasized that political loyalty in the region would be guided by performance and protection of regional interests rather than blind allegiance to individuals or political parties.
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“For the avoidance of doubt, we must reiterate our faith in the principle that all politics is local,” he stated. “Northern Nigeria will remain faithful not to particular politicians or parties, but to those who care about our regional interests and are willing to promote and protect them.”
Dalhatu criticized the growing national fixation on the 2027 elections, describing it as “premature” and a distraction from the responsibilities of elected officials.
“The current preoccupation with the 2027 national elections is a disservice to the principle of the four-year term given to elected leaders,” he said. “For now, what matters is that Northern Nigeria is watching and auditing the performance of those in power, particularly at the federal level.”
Reaffirming confidence in the region’s strength, Dalhatu noted that the North is well-positioned to play a leading role in Nigeria’s future, boasting significant representation in national governance structures.
“The North has 19 out of 36 states, the Federal Capital Territory, a majority in both chambers of the National Assembly, and a commanding presence in the National Economic Council and the Council of States,” he said. “We occupy close to 75 percent of Nigeria’s land area and are home to about 60 percent of the population.”
However, he voiced deep concern over what the ACF described as growing hostility and targeted violence against northerners living or doing business in the South, particularly in the South-East. Dalhatu said this trend undermines the unity of the Nigerian federation.
“While the North has historically welcomed people from all regions with unlimited hospitality, the same cannot be said of our experience in the South,” he remarked. “In many parts of the South-East, a northerner cannot expect to acquire a square foot of land, let alone significant property.”
He described the continued attacks on northerners—especially travellers and residents—as a longstanding problem that successive governments have failed to resolve.
“The open-door policy of the North has been met with growing hostility. This imbalance is deeply painful and regrettable, and reflects a dangerous fracture in our federation,” Dalhatu stated.
He went further to link the regional tension to federal policies that he described as discriminatory, saying they had alienated many in the North and led to increasing disenchantment.
“There is growing frustration. Some are beginning to question the essence of the union itself,” he warned.
Dalhatu also raised pressing concerns about worsening insecurity in the North, land dispossession, and the marginalisation of the indigenous people of Abuja. He called for urgent land reforms to prevent northerners from becoming “landless in their own territory” due to alleged foreign land acquisitions.
On the plight of Abuja’s original inhabitants, he demanded redress and recognition.
“The indigenous people of Abuja have been driven from their ancestral lands and rendered homeless. This injustice must be addressed. We call on the federal government to fulfill its obligations, including the creation of a state for the indigenous people within the Nigerian federation,” he said.
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