A fresh political argument over the 2027 presidential election has erupted on Facebook after a northern commentator, Lawal Yusuf, declared that no genuine “Dan Arewa” with a sense of self-worth and love for the North would vote for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The statement immediately triggered a heated exchange in the comments section, with supporters of Tinubu pushing back against the claim and challenging the suggestion that northern voters would automatically rally behind former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
Yusuf wrote:
> “No true-born ‘Dan Arewa, who has sense of self-worthiness and love for the north will vote for Tinubu in 2027.”
Rather than ending the argument, the post opened a wider debate about regional identity, political loyalty, performance, zoning and whether voters should continue to make presidential choices primarily along regional or religious lines.
One commenter argued that genuine northerners should remember that Tinubu’s political camp had supported the North during Muhammadu Buhari’s eight-year presidency and suggested that supporting Tinubu in 2027 could be viewed as respecting that political understanding.
Another contributor described the North-West as likely to become a major battleground, arguing that governors seeking second terms would have strong incentives to deliver their states to the ruling party. The commenter also predicted a fierce contest between Atiku and Vice President Kashim Shettima in the North-East while suggesting that the North-Central region could prove particularly difficult to predict.
The argument then shifted to the influence of state governors. One participant rejected the idea that governors could automatically determine how their people would vote, pointing to political developments in Niger State and arguing that voters could support different candidates regardless of the position of their governor.
The debate also produced competing claims about the numerical and political importance of the North. One commenter claimed that the North represents approximately 75 percent of Nigeria’s landmass and population, while another immediately challenged the figure, pointing to official voter-registration data and arguing that electoral strength should be assessed through actual voting figures rather than broad geographical claims.
The question of what constitutes “the North” also became contentious, particularly regarding the North-Central geopolitical zone.
Another contributor warned that continued political disagreements between northern and southern Nigerians could eventually fuel renewed calls for separation, while accusing southerners of being willing to tolerate Buhari’s eight years in office but unwilling to accept another Southern president.
That argument was countered by another participant who pointed out that Nigerians from the South have previously supported northern and southern candidates, citing Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan and Bola Tinubu as examples of southern presidents who were elected nationally. The commenter described attempts to frame the 2027 contest purely as a North-versus-South struggle as political blackmail.
The exchange reflects a broader reality of Nigeria’s 2027 political landscape: the North is not a single voting bloc.
In the 2023 presidential election, voting patterns across the northern geopolitical zones varied considerably. INEC’s official election report separately records the North-Central, North-East and North-West zones, underscoring the importance of examining each region and state individually rather than treating the entire North as politically uniform.
The 2027 contest is already shaping up as a major battle for northern votes. Analysts have identified Tinubu, Atiku and Peter Obi as the leading figures in the emerging contest, with each candidate possessing different political strengths and regional networks.
Tinubu’s camp has also secured important endorsements in the North. In October 2026, six APC governors from the North-Central region endorsed the President and Vice President for another term, with the Federal Government reporting that the gathering declared Tinubu the region’s sole presidential candidate.
Meanwhile, Atiku remains a significant northern political figure. Former Borno Governor Ali Modu Sheriff, however, recently argued that the North should allow the South to complete its turn before seeking the presidency again, saying Atiku should wait until 2031.
The Independent National Electoral Commission has scheduled Nigeria’s presidential election for January 16, 2027, making the battle for every region increasingly consequential.
As the Facebook debate demonstrated, however, one question remains unresolved: will northern voters in 2027 vote primarily according to regional solidarity, political alliances, religious considerations, economic performance—or simply their individual assessment of the candidates?
For now, the comments suggest that the North’s political battle is far from settled, and the assumption that Atiku automatically owns the region is already facing a serious challenge.
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