2027: Southern Ex- Lawmakers Endorse Tinubu for Second Term at Abeokuta Summit

 

 

2027: Southern Ex-Lawmakers Endorse Tinubu for Second Term at Abeokuta Summit

 

Former legislators from the southern part of the country yesterday endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term in office.

 

The endorsement was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the Southern Summit of Former Legislators held at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

 

The ex-lawmakers commended President Tinubu for reforms which they said had re-engineered the economy, strengthened the naira and put Nigeria on the path of recovery. They urged state governments to align with the reforms to consolidate the progress.

 

Chief of Staff to the President and convener of the summit, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, said Tinubu’s tax reforms had ushered in “a new era of fairness, accountability and national purpose.”

 

Quoting the World Bank Development Update, Gbajabiamila disclosed that the economy grew by 4.6 per cent in the last quarter of 2024, while overall annual growth hit 3.4 per cent — the fastest pace in a decade. He added that the fiscal deficit narrowed from 5.4 per cent of GDP in 2023 to three per cent in 2024, with federation revenues rising from N16.8 trillion to N31.9 trillion.

 

He stressed that the administration had established development commissions in all six geo-political zones to channel federal resources to infrastructure and human capital growth.

 

Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, who hosted the summit, said nation-building transcends regional, tribal, or political divides. “Unity does not mean uniformity; it means celebrating diversity under justice, equity, and respect,” he said.

 

Chairman of the occasion, Senator Ken Nnamani, charged the ex-lawmakers to continue offering solutions to national challenges.

 

Former House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara urged Nigerians not to be swayed by “pretenders in the political space whose agitations are about vengeance and power, not patriotism.”

 

Also speaking, former Speaker Patricia Etteh called for cohesion, dialogue, and shared purpose to sustain development.

 

The National Coordinator of the Summit, Hon. Raphael Igbokwe, assured that the meeting would continue to serve as a platform for finding solutions to the nation’s problems while fostering cooperation between sub-national governments and the centre.