Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, the former spokesperson for the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), has said President Bola Tinubu should not pursue re-election in 2027. Instead, he should back a younger, more capable candidate from his party.

Baba-Ahmed, who stepped down as special adviser on political affairs to the vice-president in April, expressed this view during a Sunday Politics interview on Channels Television.

He added that the president has not demonstrated the necessary drive to address the country's issues, despite his longstanding reputation for political strategy.

“I’m sorry, but I have to say this again. When I left his administration, one of the things I told many people was, ‘I wish President Tinubu would not run again in 2027,’” he said.

“First, he said his ambition was to be president, and he has now achieved that. He said, ‘emi lokan’, and he had his turn. But I don’t think he has run the country well.

“The Tinubu we used to know, the Tinubu with all this brilliant intelligence for scheming, hasn’t shown that same hunger to fix things.

“He should find a replacement within his party, a younger person, a healthier person, a more focused person, and make him his candidate.

“He can, if he can run this government, get all these people out of the PDP to come and join him; he has amongst every power that he needs, but he’s not running the country.

“Let’s go back to this Trump thing — I didn’t see a president who should respond to an emergency or a challenge in this manner, with the manner and spirit that he should. I didn’t see it. And it’s not just on this issue.

“The truth is that Nigeria has deteriorated so badly that we cannot continue to run things as if they’re normal.”