Northern stakeholders are considering convening a regional summit to deliberate on key issues and adopt a collective position ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The Director-General of the Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF), Prof. Doknan Sheni, gave the hint on Saturday during an expanded meeting of the National Political Consultative Group (NPCG) in Abuja.

Daily Trust reports that some northern leaders and groups, including the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), believe the region has been marginalised under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

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They point to perceived neglect in federal budgetary allocations, infrastructure projects, and appointments, particularly in the North East and North West subregions.

But the Presidency and groups such as Afenifere, have dismissed the claims as politically motivated, insisting that the Tinubu administration is committed to equitable development across all regions, with “verifiable evidence of projects” in the North.

Speaking on the theme, “The Imperative of Northern Unity Ahead of 2027 Elections,” Prof. Sheni said the challenges confronting the North were both internal and external.

“For the North to unite towards the 2027 elections, there should be a summit of Northern leaders sometime in the first quarter of 2026 or thereabout, to harmonise ideas and plan for the elections.

“The two major operating factors that influence voters’ election patterns—religion and ethnicity—must be addressed at that summit.
If the idea of the summit is accepted, a committee consisting of members from each state in the North be set up to draft a Northern development blueprint that the summit will endorse.

“There may be other political interests by other Nigerians to wedge and exploit political/religious/ethnic differences within Northerners so that they could get inroads into the region,” he said.

“If we permit these differences among us to be exploited by other politicians outside our region, then we have agreed to be permanently divided.

“We should do everything possible to narrow and minimise these differences. No matter the cause of the disunity, when we Northerners close ranks and begin to treat one another with respect and with justice, most of the issues causing disunity will disappear,” he added.

He further urged political leaders across party lines to imbibe democratic values, subordinate personal ambition to national interest, and discard the “do-or-die” approach to politics.

On the conduct of the 2027 general elections, Prof. Sheni emphasised the need for capacity building within the electoral body.

“There must be training of INEC staff, particularly the ad hoc staff, to know how to operate the gadgets used in voting. INEC must build confidence in the populace on how they conduct and transmit election results. They must ensure there is transparency on how elections are conducted,” he emphasised.

The meeting, which later went into a closed-door session, was attended by former Adamawa State governor, Bindow Jibrilla; former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal; National Publicity Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Bolaji Abdullahi; former federal lawmakers, and representatives from the 19 northern states.