Ex-NAHCON chair warns denying Tinubu second term could cause political crisis
- Sheikh Abdullahi Saleh Pakistan, former NAHCON chairman, spoke to youth groups at his Kano home.
- He said Tinubu should serve two terms to keep power rotating between north and south.
- He also claimed food prices and Abuja-Kaduna road security have improved under Tinubu.
A former head of Nigeria's Hajj agency has warned that blocking President Bola Tinubu from a second term could push the country into a political crisis.
Sheikh Abdullahi Saleh Pakistan, immediate past chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), said this while addressing youth groups at his residence in Kano, according to Daily Trust and Naija News.
His argument rests on power rotation. He said Tinubu should be allowed to serve two terms so that the north and south continue to take turns at the presidency, just as former President Muhammadu Buhari was allowed to complete two terms.
Pakistan said rejecting a candidate because of the region he comes from is dangerous. In his words, "Nobody will allow any northerner to take two terms" if the same standard is not applied to Tinubu.
Claims on security and food prices
The former NAHCON chairman also listed what he called gains of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government.
He said travelling the Abuja-Kaduna highway is now safer, claiming a driver can leave Abuja at midnight and reach Kaduna safely. He said the Abuja-Kaduna train, once attacked by kidnappers, is now safe to board.
On food, Pakistan said a bag of rice that sold for ₦120,000 under Buhari now goes for ₦57,500. He said millet, which he sold for ₦85,000 a bag as a farmer under Buhari, now sells for about ₦30,000.
He also said kidnapping and banditry grew under Buhari, meaning Tinubu inherited two major security problems: kidnapping and the Boko Haram insurgency.
These are his personal claims. The reports did not include independent figures to confirm the prices or the security situation, and no government agency was quoted backing them.
Why it matters
Talk of a second term for Tinubu is already shaping political conversation ahead of the next general election. Comments like these from northern figures will be watched closely, because they touch on rotation, regional fairness and the price Nigerians pay for food and travel.
For ordinary Nigerians, the debate matters less than what they see at the market and on the road. A bag of rice at ₦57,500, if true, would be a big relief for many homes. The same goes for a safe trip on the Abuja-Kaduna road.
What happens next depends on how parties and leaders respond. Neither the presidency nor the APC has reacted in the reports reviewed.
