Daily Post reported on Saturday, September 6, 2025, that Usman Okai-Austin, a political activist and former PDP candidate for the Dekina/Bassa Federal Constituency, accused northern politicians of using the region’s identity for personal political gains rather than genuinely representing the people’s interests.
Okai-Austin said that the so-called northern voices are not collective representatives but individuals chasing their own agendas. He observed that no person or group currently speaks for the entire North. According to him, the supposed unity or divisions often reported are exaggerated, with much of the political maneuvering driven by personal ambitions linked to the 2027 presidential election.
He recalled that similar patterns have shaped the past, where politicians justified their choices as being in the region’s interest, only for such moves to be revealed later as self-serving. As an example, he cited Nasir El-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna State, who backed the Muslim-Muslim ticket, claiming it worked in Kaduna. Many, however, saw this as part of his strategy to secure the vice presidency. When that failed, El-Rufai was nominated for a ministerial appointment, but his bid collapsed after Senator Kahinde filed a petition raising national security concerns.
According to Okai-Austin, this episode illustrates how alliances in the North quickly shift once personal ambitions are threatened. He stressed that citizens must be cautious about leaders who claim to advocate for the North, as many of them are more interested in their own advancement than in the welfare of millions they claim to represent.
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