This is not analysis. This is panic literature dressed as a warning letter. And it must be called what it is.

This is not analysis. This is panic literature dressed as a warning letter. And it must be called what it is.

By Victor Mathew Bobai – A Counter to Mohammed Bello Doka

I read Mohammed Bello Doka’s piece titled “2027: Is Senator Yari the Next to Be Used and Dumped in Tinubu’s Game of Endless Betrayals?” and I had to respond, because what Doka has done is repackage an old opposition playbook for a new election cycle.

THE HIGHLIGHTS – What Doka Is Really Selling

Let me bring out the important spotlights from his long essay so we see the trick clearly:

1. The Premise: The appointment of Senator Abdulaziz Yari as Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council for 2027 is a “trap” and a “death knell.”

We know now this appointment is real. President Bola Tinubu has constituted the APC Presidential Campaign Council ahead of the 2027 general elections, appointing former Zamfara State Governor, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, as its Director-General. He will serve as DG while Imo Governor Hope Uzodimma serves as Secretary.

2. The Emotional Blackmail: Doka claims he got calls from “prominent Nigerians” asking about Yari, then says he never liked Yari because Zamfara is poor, but defends him because he is a Northerner. Classic – insult the man, then claim to protect the North.

3. The Three Loaded Questions:
Q1: Where are Lalong and Faleke, the 2023 DG and Secretary? Answer: Used and dumped.
Q2: Where are El-Rufai, Ganduje, Yahaya Bello, Masari, Almakura, Badaru? Answer: All humiliated and discarded, with only Matawalle surviving.
Q3: How many private promises has Tinubu fulfilled to Yari?

4. The Conclusion: If it looks like a trap and smells like a trap, it is a trap. Don’t celebrate.

On the surface it looks like concern for the North. In reality, it is a textbook demoralization script.

THE ANALYSIS – Why The Opposition Is Pushing This Sick Narrative Now

Why would anyone write this in August 2026, just as the APC is consolidating for 2027? The reason is simple.

First, they fear what Yari represents. Yari is not a small political figure in the North West. He is a mobilizer, a former Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, a Senator with structure across Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi and beyond. Pairing him with President Bola Tinubu gives the APC a deadly Northwest-Southwest alliance. The opposition knows they cannot beat that on the ballot, so they must poison it before it works.

Second, the goal is to discourage Northerners. The message is: “Tinubu will use you and dump you.” It is designed to create fear and suspicion among Northern stakeholders who are already inside the APC or planning to support Tinubu. If you can convince a Northerner that loyalty to Tinubu ends in humiliation, you have already won half the battle without campaigning.

Third, it is an attempt to erase the record of inclusion. Doka wants you to forget that this same President in May 2025 appointed at least 12 northerners to key positions in federal agencies, a move that was widely seen as an attempt to address regional imbalance. He wants you to forget that the Vice President is Kashim Shettima from Borno, the NSA is Nuhu Ribadu, the Speaker is Tajudeen Abbas, Defence has both CG Musa and Matawalle, Agriculture, Livestock Development, and many critical agencies are led by Northerners. Senator Ali Ndume himself, a known critic, publicly hailed Tinubu for these appointments.

Fourth, it weaponizes personal misfortunes as political betrayal. This is the most dishonest part.

WHY WE MUST RESIST THIS NARRATIVE – The Truth Doka Hid

Let us answer his questions with facts, not street proverbs.

On Lalong and Faleke: Simon Lalong was DG of the 2023 campaign and today is a sitting Senator for Plateau South – my own state. That is not political wilderness, that is the highest legislative body in Nigeria. Hon. James Faleke is one of the most powerful ranking members in the House, close confidant of the President for over 20 years. Campaign DG is a campaign assignment, not a promise of a ministerial slot. In America, campaign managers don’t automatically become Secretaries of State.

On the so-called dumped Northern giants:
Nasir El-Rufai’s ministerial nomination failed at Senate screening over security concerns, not because Tinubu dumped him. El-Rufai chose confrontation over reconciliation.
Abdullahi Ganduje served out his tenure as APC National Chairman and led the party through critical elections. That is not humiliation.
Yahaya Bello’s EFCC case is about his tenure as Governor of Kogi, investigated by an independent anti-graft agency. To blame Tinubu for Yahaya Bello’s legal battle is to demand that the President should have stopped the EFCC from doing its job – is that the rule of law we want?

And what about that viral video of Badaru being denied access at the March 2026 convention? Even if it happened, since when does adherence to security protocol at a convention equal being dumped? Badaru was still Minister of Defence at that time.

On private promises: Doka asks Yari to ask himself about private promises. Which private promises? Politics is not done on whispers. It is done on structure, appointments, and federal presence. The North has never been more structurally embedded in this government.

The sick part of this narrative is that it teaches Northerners to see themselves as permanent victims in a Nigeria they co-own. It tells our youth in Jos, in Gusau, in Kano, that no matter how hard you work for the party, you will be dumped. That is how you kill political participation. That is how you discourage the next generation of Northern organizers.

My Counsel to Senator Yari and to Northerners

Senator Yari should take this appointment and deliver. The President chose you because you can win. In Zamfara, we have a saying Galma Uwar Rufi, as Doka quoted. But the true meaning of Galma is not the man who runs away from the market because someone told him the market is a trap. It is the man who stands firm and trades.

To supporters of President Bola Tinubu in the North, we must resist this divide-and-rule. The opposition has no message on economy, no message on security, so their only message is: distrust your own alliance.

We cannot afford to fall for it again. The North does not need saviors writing warning letters from Abuja. The North needs builders who understand that power is negotiated inside the house, not by burning the house down because an opposition writer told you the landlord will evict you.

I know Senator Yari. He is too smart to be fooled by this.

Victor Mathew Bobai writes from Sabon Tasha Ward, Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State. He is a Public Affairs Analyst, Convener of Friends of CG Musa, and Media Director of Citizens Support for Good Governance (CSGG).