The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) in Kano has strongly denied media reports claiming it opposed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu being allowed to run as the sole candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 presidential election.

Addressing journalists on Wednesday, the state chairman of the forum, Gwani Farouk Umar, dismissed a BBC report which quoted the ACF’s National Publicity Secretary, Professor Muhd Tukur Baba, as saying the group did not support Tinubu’s sole candidacy for the APC ticket in 2027.

Umar stressed that the comments were not made on behalf of the ACF and that the forum was displeased by them.

“What the spokesman said was not with our consent, and we are not happy about it. We are not politicians and we do not take sides with candidates,” he said.

He stated that Kano Chapter had disavowed the comments and urged the national body of the ACF to scrutinize any political declaration before it goes public.

He explained that it was not the first time this type of event had happened. He recalled that there had been a similar instance in the past when a representative of the ACF supported a candidate in an election, only for the forum later to deny the statement.

Umar urged the leadership to caution Professor Baba to prevent a recurrence.

He further noted that ahead of the 2023 general elections, the ACF had met with representatives of political parties and secured their commitments to the forum’s demands.

The Kano ACF chairman also praised Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf for presenting a bill before the state assembly to grant local governments full autonomy. He urged lawmakers to pass the bill and called on anti-corruption agencies to ensure that public funds are not misused.