Tinubu’s Rough Road to the 2027 Elections Post-Buhari’s Death

The death of former president Muhammadu Buhari has put President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in a precarious political position where he risks losing the support of the north, which can cost him re-election in 2027.

The picture of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu bowing to the body of his predecessor, political ally and former president of Nigeria, late Muhammadu Buhari, shortly before he was buried, has stood as a profound testament to the heroic and stately burial that Tinubu made sure Buhari got. Not even Tinubu’s most ardent detractors could find anything to complain about in the way the president honoured his predecessor in life and after his death. Tinubu had asked his vice president, Kashim Shettima, to go to London and find out how Buhari was doing a few days before he died. When Buhari’s passing was announced on Sunday, 13 July 2025, Tinubu again asked Shetimma to proceed to London and accompany the return of the body to Nigeria. He was then at the airport in Katsina to receive the body and accompany it to Daura, the hometown of the former president and where he was buried. It was also where the aforementioned iconic photo was taken. It was deliberate, it was calculated and it was political because for Tinubu, everything, including the death of an ally, should be viewed from a political prism...