A former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, has warned northern and southern leaders against being fooled by President Bola Tinubu’s tricks to grab power in 2027.

Frank made the call in a statement issued Wednesday.

He said while Tinubu is on the one hand blackmailing southerners, especially opposition governors on the platform of the PDP, Labour Party and All Progressives Grand Alliance by playing the ethnic card to gain support, he is on the other hand threatening to deal with them if they fail to support him by declaring a state of emergency in their states.

Frank added that 2027 should not be about North or South but who would fix the myriads of challenges confronting the country.

He said: “He has increased the intensity now by blackmailing, intimidating and putting at least five PDP Governors from the South under duress to defect along with their Members in the National Assembly to the APC.

“To Tinubu, the 2027 election is about him versus the North and that is why he is trying desperately to enlist the support of the South through manipulation and subterfuge. He has forgotten so soon that the North helped him to get to power in 2023.

“Nigerians are in need of a President who will help Nigeria become better, not ‘Northern candidate or Southern candidate’ or ‘Northern President or Southern President’.

“The country is overcharged already with divisions along ethnic lines. We therefore can’t afford to have a President who is setting one region against another for the sake of his own personal ambition.

“For me, Timi Frank, as a Southerner, I don’t believe in tribalistic and a divisive president. I believe in a leader that will come and unite rather than divide Nigeria.

“I advise every Northerner still supporting Tinubu to have a rethink. They should know that the North that apparently ‘assisted’ Tinubu to gain power in 2023 are suffering the most today.

“It is a fact that the north has been grossly sidelined in appointments and other infrastructure development programmes by Tinubu who has prioritised his personal and tribal life interests over the everything else.”

“This is why the North should wake up. They should know this route Tinubu is going in terms of 2027 politics, is not the best for Nigeria. They should rise and speak with one voice in 2027.

“I want the Northern leaders to know that should Tinubu find his way back to power in 2027, the North will suffer untold neglect as Tinubu and the APC don’t have their genuine interest at heart.

“As we speak, at least five opposition governors are set to defect to APC not because they like Tinubu but due to intense political pressure, intimidation and blackmail, while those who will remain have been made to sign undertakings to deliver their states to Tinubu otherwise they will be made to lose their second terms elections.