Sultan of Sokoto Denies Endorsing Tinubu for 2027, No Preferred Candidate
The Media Team of the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, has dismissed reports circulating on social media claiming that the revered monarch endorsed President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid ahead of the 2027 presidential election, insisting the Sultan holds no preference for any political candidate.
In a statement issued on Tuesday and signed by Prince Bashir Adefaka, the media team described the trending reports as false, malicious, and misleading, characterising them as an attempt to drag the traditional ruler into partisan politics for selfish interests. The statement stressed that it would be impossible for the Sultan, in his position as a father figure to all Nigerians, to make such a political declaration, either publicly or in any other setting.
The clarification followed viral claims suggesting the Sultan had declared Tinubu the “only choice” for Nigerians ahead of the 2027 polls during a live television appearance, a post that spread widely across social media platforms and generated heated reactions, some carrying political and ethnic undertones. However, fact-checking organisation DUBAWA traced the source of the viral clip to a livestock conference held in Abuja on July 30, 2026, where the Sultan had addressed government reforms to the livestock sector, remarks that were subsequently stripped of their original context and recirculated online as a political endorsement.
Addressing the controversy directly, the Sultan’s media team stated that his role as a traditional and religious leader obligates him to remain impartial and to relate with all Nigerians without discrimination, regardless of their political affiliations. The statement emphasised that the Sultan’s doors remain open to anyone who approaches him, irrespective of political persuasion, and that he has consistently demonstrated his position as a unifying figure above partisan divides.
The media team urged Nigerians across all sectors to disregard the circulating claims and reject any attempt to misrepresent the Sultan’s position or associate him with the campaign of any political candidate ahead of the general election.
The controversy comes at a politically charged moment in Nigeria, with the 2027 election cycle already generating intense activity across the country’s political landscape, including recent developments surrounding party defections, INEC’s release of presidential candidates’ particulars, and mounting economic and security debates between the ruling party and opposition figures. The Sultan’s clarification underscores the broader sensitivity surrounding the involvement of traditional and religious leaders in Nigeria’s increasingly contested political discourse ahead of the polls.
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