President Bola Tinubu has hosted former Governors of Cross River and Delta states, Donald Duke and James Ibori, as well as other members of the 1999 class of governors, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The delegation, comprising the first set of governors elected at the dawn of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic in 1999, was led to the meeting by Ibori on Friday, July 25, 2025.
Members of the delegation include Adamu Aliero (Kebbi), Joshua Dariye (Plateau), Saminu Turaki (Jigawa), Boni Haruna (Adamawa), Donald Duke (Cross River), and Sam Egwu (Ebonyi).
Lucky Igbinedion (Edo), Jolly Nyame (Taraba), Victor Attah (Akwa Ibom), Niyi Adebayo (Ekiti), and Adamu Mu’azu (Bauchi) were also in attendance.
Senator George Akume, who served as Governor of Benue State from 1999 to 2007 and is currently the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), introduced his former colleagues at the start of the meeting.
President Tinubu also belongs to the class of 1999, having been elected as the Governor of Lagos State upon the country’s return to democratic rule and serving consecutive two terms in office.
Notable absentees from the delegation were Bisi Akande (Osun), Sani Yerima (Zamfara), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Chimaroke Nnamani (Enugu), Olusegun Osoba (Ogun), Achike Udenwa (Imo), Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa), Ahmed Makarfi (Kaduna), Attahiru Bafarawa (Sokoto), and Orji Kalu (Abia).
The class of 1999 governors is considered a powerful bloc in Nigeria’s political landscape, due to their critical roles in shaping the country’s political landscape since its return to civil rule.
While the details of the meeting remain under wraps at the time of filing this report, they may not be unrelated to Tinubu’s ongoing consultations with key political stakeholders ahead of the 2027 general election.
