The remains of former President Muhammadu Buhari were on Tuesday laid to rest in his hometown, Daura, Katsina State.
The solemn ceremony drew dignitaries from across the nation and beyond.
Buhari served Nigeria both as a military Head of State and a democratically elected president under the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Although reactions have continued to trail his death, President Bola Tinubu and the ruling APC must now prepare for the 2027 general elections without the political influence of the late President.
Buhari’s exit came amid the unveiling of a political coalition under the platform of the African Democratic Congress, ADC.
The coalition is led by former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, Rotimi Amaechi, Nasir El-Rufai, Peter Obi, among others. The opposition has sworn to unseat Tinubu in the 2027 general election.
Recalls that Buhari, who contested five presidential elections between 2003 and 2019, lost three times — in 2003, 2007, and 2011 — before finally securing victory in 2015 and again in 2019.
However, the deceased President had maintained a steady score of 12 million votes in almost all of the elections he contested.
Many watchers believe that Buhari’s exit, seen as the rallying point of the APC – pointing to the strength of his political stature and followership – will have adverse effect on the performance of the party in 2027.
Speaking about the impact his death will have on the party, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Wahab Owokoniran, acknowledged that the demise of Buhari was going to be a big loss to the party.
However, Wahab, also the Pro-Chancellor of the Federal University of Transportation, Daura, Katsina State, insisted that President Bola Tinubu is a master strategist, noting that he has been building bridges across the country for the past 39 years.
Speaking on Channels Television during the live broadcast of President Buhari’s burial, the APC chieftain said that he doesn’t see the party losing the next election.
He said: “There’s no doubt this is going to be a big loss. One thing I can assure you is that Tinubu is a master strategist.
“Before now, for the past 39 years he has been building bridges across the country. You can be assured that now he’s a sitting president he will consolidate all the bridges he has built all over the years and possibly he must have made new friends.
“Certainly, we are going to lose some but we will definitely gain some. Yes we are going to lose some but at the end of the day it’s going to balance out. I don’t see the APC losing the next election.
“To be honest with you, I think his shoe is going to be bigger for anybody to fill. But one thing I can assure you is that nature doesn’t habour a vacuum.
“You know at a time, Musa Yar’adua was about the biggest politician in the north. When he died, people were wondering, Oh, who is going to be the rallying point within the North?
“But as long as we have it after him, Buhari emerged at the rallying point, I’m very sure that another person will emerge. Who that person will be, I cannot tell you for now.”
On his part, a member of the ADC coalition, Salihu Lukman, suggested that with the absence of late President Buhari, politicians, especially from the north, must now be humble to relate with citizens with higher level of humility, if they must win election.
Lukman noted that Buhari was one of the prominent figures in contemporary Nigerian politics, adding that his influence paved the way for many politicians in the northern part of the country.
Lukman, also a former chieftain of the APC, stated this on Tuesday while fielding questions on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme.
His words: “Buhari was certainly a great politician, you know. And in contemporary Nigeria, I won’t say all of our history, he stood out as one of those politicians who commanded a lot of popularity, and his popularity, especially in the northern part of the country, cannot be in any way doubted, and to a large extent.
“His popularity made it possible for the merger of APC in 2013/2014 to be consummated. And through that, I would say we were able to succeed, to consummate the merger process that produced the APC, largely because that translated into a teamwork – people like Bisi Akande, Asiwaju Bola, Ogbonnia Onu, a lot of them were able to work together.
“I think we must be very frank to draw lessons from that. And moving forward, if we are going to form a coalition and we are hoping to produce a government, we must strategize in such a way that from now moving forward up to the time of winning election, the party never gets sacrificed.
“Former president Muhammadu Buhari, in contemporary Nigerian politics, was one of the prominent figures.
“I’m aware, being somebody from the north, I know many politicians look forward to him raising their hands and for him endorsing them, that translated into victory in many places in the north.
“And that in a way made politicians to be lazy. Most people who aspire for positions instead of going into good negotiations and relationships with citizens, so that it translates to vote, now concentrate in terms of being in his good books.
“Today, we don’t have any figure like that, which is why I am one of those in the coalition who keeps raising the point that leaders of the coalition must remember we don’t have a figure like late President Buhari, who when he raises your hand it translates to victory. This means that politicians should begin to engage citizens with more listening ears and dispositions.
“The challenge of having somebody like late president Buhari, now absent in Nigerian politics, is that they must win election, except if they want to rig. They must be humble to relate with citizens with a higher level of humility.”
