Ibrahim Gambari Discloses Meeting of Northern Governors with Buhari Regarding 2023 Election Successor

Ibrahim Gambari, who served as the Chief of Staff under the late President Muhammadu Buhari, disclosed that Buhari explicitly told 19 northern governors that he had not designated any successor prior to the 2023 presidential elections.

During an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Gambari explained that the topic arose during a confidential meeting between Buhari and the governors, which followed their collective agreement that the presidency should rotate to the South.

Gambari noted that the northern governors had already committed to a statement endorsing a southern presidency and subsequently requested a meeting with Buhari to ascertain if he had a preferred candidate.

"He (Buhari) didn’t believe he should endorse a candidate," Gambari stated. "The 19 governors approached Buhari after they made their declaration that the next president of Nigeria should hail from the South and they signed this agreement," he remarked.

"They then asked for a meeting with the President. Upon informing him, he inquired about the purpose, and I replied that they wanted to confirm whether he had an anointed candidate. He is their leader," he recalled.

Gambari confirmed his presence at the meeting, emphasizing that he could only speak from his own experiences.

"I attended that meeting, and I can only share what I know, with the governors as witnesses," he added.

It is important to mention that both Rotimi Amaechi and Yemi Osinbajo contended for the APC presidential nomination in June 2022 but were unsuccessful against Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the party's leader and former governor of Lagos State. Tinubu ultimately won the 2023 election, defeating Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party.