2027: Southern, Middle Belt Leaders Seek Southern President, Push for State Police

• Say 70 per cent of the nation’s territorial space ungoverne

•Seek end to importation of refined petrol, support for local crude refining

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja and Yemi Kosoko in Jos

Leaders of the Southern and Middle Belt regions, yes-terday, raised the stakes in the build-up to the 2027 general election, declaring that Nigeria’s next president must come from the south, while also demanding the immediate establishment of state police to tackle worsening insecurity across the country.

The position was part of the resolutions reached at the meeting of Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF), held at the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) secretariat in Abuja.

The high-level meeting, attended by prominent regional leaders, including Oba Oladipo Olaitan, Bitrus Pogu, John Azuta-Mbata, and Godknows Igali, also featured participation from delegates across member states and National Christian Elders’ Forum led by Samuel Danjuma Gani.

In a communique issued at the end of deliberations, the forum insisted that all political parties must zone their presidential tickets to southern Nigeria, describing the arrangement as critical to national stability and consistent with Nigeria’s democratic evolution since 1999.

The group recalled its earlier position ahead of the 2023 elections, when it advocated power shift to the south following the eight-year tenure of former President Muhammadu Buhari. It warned against any deviation from what it described as an emerging national consensus on rotational presidency.

Beyond politics, the forum painted a grim picture of the country’s security situation, warning that Nigeria is fast sliding into a dangerous state of lawlessness.

According to the communique, more than 70 per cent of the country’s territorial space was currently “ungoverned and unmanned” by security forces, a development it described as deeply alarming.

While expressing confidence in the capacity of the armed forces and other security agencies, the leaders stressed that the scale of insecurity had overwhelmed existing structures, particularly due to inadequate manpower and lack of actionable local intelligence.

The forum called for the immediate cessation of government’s policy of reintegrating repentant terrorists, arguing that such measures have failed to address the root causes of violence and have, instead, emboldened criminal elements.

SMBLF also declared solidarity with communities facing persistent attacks, urging citizens to take steps towards collective self-defence within the ambit of the law.

Central to its recommendations was a renewed call for constitutional amendment to establish state and community police.

The forum aligned itself with ongoing advocacy for decentralised policing, stating that localised security architecture remains the most effective response to Nigeria’s peculiar challenges.

It specifically referenced ongoing reform conversations under President Bola Tinubu, urging swift action to translate proposals into reality.

To reinforce its position, the group announced the constitution of a 12-member committee of security experts tasked with developing practical frameworks for the implementation of state and community policing nationwide.

On governance and the economy, the forum reiterated its long-standing demand for restructuring, insisting that Nigeria must return to true federalism that grants greater autonomy to federating units.