The National Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Ajibola Basiru, has said that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu remains a neutral and detribalised leader in the face of the ongoing crisis in Benue State, one of Nigeria’s largest food-producing regions.
Basiru, who spoke during an interview on The Morning Brief programme aired by Channels Television and monitored by Core TV News on Friday, explained that it would be inappropriate to expect the president to take sides in a sensitive conflict.
“As a statesman, you don’t expect the president to be taking sides with anybody in the conflict,” said Basiru, a lawyer and former Senate spokesman. “He is supposed to have a dispassionate consideration of the issue and then be able to charge the various state actors to address the various challenges.”
His remarks come days after President Tinubu’s official visit to Makurdi on Wednesday, June 18, 2025, which drew mixed reactions. Some critics interpreted the visit as suggestive of a political stance, but the APC chieftain dismissed such claims.
He pointed out that the president used the occasion to provide an inclusive platform, particularly giving room for the paramount traditional ruler in the state, the Tor Tiv V, His Royal Majesty James Ayatse, to publicly articulate the concerns of the Benue people.
“The fact that the president gave opportunity to the Tor Tiv to give the address, which commentators now say resonates with the concerns of the moment, has predicated and validated the fact that a platform was created by the visit of the president to have different perspectives to what is happening in Benue State,” Basiru emphasized.
According to him, the president’s visit should not be misconstrued as taking a side, but rather as a demonstration of leadership and empathy toward all affected citizens, regardless of their ethnic or regional identities.
Basiru warned against divisive rhetoric and efforts to pit Nigerians against one another along ethnic lines.
“As to people who try to create division in Nigeria by saying the president pandered to northern element or southern element, I say this clearly — as far as we are concerned, the president is a Nigerian; he is a detribalised Nigerian,” he stressed.
He further noted that President Tinubu’s concern in Benue is first and foremost the protection of human lives, which he views as more important than any other consideration.
“In his preference, the lives of the people are more precious than the issue of property, which cows signify,” Basiru stated, subtly addressing the longstanding farmer-herder tensions that have plagued the region.
With President Tinubu’s commitment to unity and fair leadership, the APC says the federal government will continue to work towards restoring peace and stability in Benue — not through bias or favoritism, but through inclusivity, dialogue, and responsible governance.