Amid the growing speculation over who will emerge as President Bola Tinubu’s running mate for the 2027 presidential election, the Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin, has declared his full loyalty to Tinubu, stating that he will do whatever the President asks of him.
Barau disclosed this today during a media briefing on the forthcoming zonal public hearings of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review, where he responded to growing calls for him to be considered as Tinubu’s running mate in the next general election.
According to him, “I don’t want to say anything about this now because one point is very clear. Mr. President, since the inception of this administration, has been trying so hard to change the trajectory of the country in a way that will bring prosperity to the nation.
“So, bringing this issue is quite premature. That’s why I told those groups frankly, I don’t know them. I thank them for believing in me. But I told them, ‘Instead of wasting energy on things that are not relevant now, channel your resources to supporting the President. When the time comes, we’ll play politics. But this time is for governance’.
“Mr. President is my political father. You’ll be surprised if I start telling you what he has done for me and my people. So, whenever he asks me to do something when the time comes, I’ll do it. I’m very loyal to him.
“So, if the time comes and he says I should work with him, I will do it, whatever he asks me to do, I’ll do. I’m loyal to him, 100 per cent.”
Senator Barau also provided updates on the forthcoming zonal public hearings of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review which he chairs.
He revealed that the committee is currently reviewing 59 bills and 31 proposals, with further contributions expected through public memoranda.
The hearings will be held across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones including the South-South (in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State; chaired by the Senate President Godswill Akpabio, or his representative), North-West (in Kano chaired by Barau), and the South-West (in Lagos; chaired by the Senate Leader, Senator Michael Opeyemi Bamidele).
Others are the North-Central (in Jos; chaired by Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Lola Ashiru), North-East (in Maiduguri; chaired by the Chief Whip, Senator Mohammed Tahir Monguno), and the South-East in Enugu (chaired by the Deputy Chief Whip, Senator Peter Nwebonyi).
