Ahead of the 2027 general elections, powerful northern groups have commenced moves to forge a solid political bloc for the region and halt its declining influence in national politics.
The Northern Elders Forum and the National Political Consultative Group are spearheading the move, which will culminate in a major Northern Unity Summit in early 2026.
The initiative aims to rally traditional rulers, religious leaders, and politicians across the 19 northern states to promote unity and a collective political agenda, echoing the era of the late Premier of the Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello.
Disclosing the plan at an NPCG expanded meeting in Abuja on Saturday, the Director-General of the NEF, Prof. Doknan Sheni, declared that the first step to reclaiming the region’s political strength was to tackle the factors fuelling its disunity.
Speaking on the theme, ‘The Imperative of Northern Unity Ahead of 2027 Elections,’ Sheni sounded a strong warning that unless identity politics is checked, “the North, and by extension Nigeria, may continue to slide into deeper ethno-religious fragmentation.”
He charged northern leaders to immediately launch massive voter enlightenment campaigns to reorient the electorate towards ideology and party manifestos, instead of being swayed by ethnic and religious sentiments.
The university don insisted that for the north to unite for the 2027 polls, a summit must hold in the first quarter of 2026 to harmonise ideas and produce a Northern Development Blueprint.
He cautioned that political actors from other regions are actively exploiting the North’s internal divisions to weaken it.
“There may be other political interests by other Nigerians to wedge and exploit political, religious and ethnic differences within northerners so that they could get inroads into the region. If we permit these differences among us to be exploited by other politicians outside our region, then we have agreed to be permanently divided,” Sheni stated bluntly.
He emphasised that a united North is non-negotiable for the region to effectively negotiate for power, influence national policy, and secure its fair share of national resources.
The NEF DG also pointed to the region’s severe security challenges—terrorism, banditry, and kidnapping—demanding that Northern Governors, elders, and traditional rulers align their strategies immediately.
Furthermore, he called for a renewed drive for investments through initiatives like the Northern Nigeria Investment and Industrialization Summit to tackle the rampant unemployment and youth restiveness fueling the region’s crises.
