By Kazeem Waris
The Director-General of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (APC-PCC), Senator Abdul’aziz Yari, has assured President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that northern political power brokers, traditional rulers and Islamic clerics are backing his bid for re-election in 2027.
Yari gave the assurance on Saturday at the flag-off of the APC presidential campaign in Kaduna, attended by Tinubu and governors from northern states.
He said the party had been engaging traditional rulers, Islamic scholars and imams to secure their understanding of the need for continuity under the Tinubu administration.
“We have been engaging all and sundry, our traditional rulers, our ulama and our imams, to understand the importance of your return in 2027 for continuity, for the peace of this country and for Nigeria,” Yari said.
The former Zamfara State governor told Tinubu that prominent political figures in the North had turned out for the campaign flag-off, describing the gathering as a demonstration of support for the President.
“We believe in you, and those people believe in us. All the shakers and movers of this part of the country are here,” he said.
Yari went further to declare that the North was firmly behind the President ahead of the January 16, 2027 presidential election.
“Northern Nigeria is 101 per cent for you, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, by God’s grace, Insha Allah. And the promise we have made, you are going to see it on January 16, 2027,” he said.
The declaration represented the APC campaign leadership’s assessment of support for Tinubu in the region ahead of the election.
Yari defends Tinubu’s economic reforms
Yari also defended the President’s economic policies, arguing that the country’s economic indicators had changed since Tinubu assumed office.
He cited foreign exchange reforms and the removal of the petrol subsidy as examples of the administration’s policy decisions, although he did not provide specific figures to substantiate his assessment.
“If we talk about the economy, we know the state of the economy when you stepped into the leadership of this country. Today, the total indices have changed completely to the advantage of Nigeria and other countries of the world,” he said.
“Mr President, I can enumerate at least a few: from the exchange rate, to the subsidy removal and many more,” he added.
The APC campaign director-general said the party would base its appeal to voters on the administration’s record in infrastructure, healthcare, education and human capital development.
“We Nigerians, at the head of this campaign, are going to campaign with our records. Our records are there. The infrastructure is there. What you did in health, education and human capital development is there,” Yari said.
He also cited student support programmes and conditional cash transfers as part of the administration’s interventions.
“The students are there. The transparent cash and conditional cash transfers are also there for men and women,” he added.
Recalls APC’s 2023 election victory
Reflecting on the 2023 presidential election, Yari expressed admiration for Tinubu’s political strategy, saying he would like to understand how the party secured its victory.
“I would like to be a student again, to be told how you did it, because we want the country,” he said.
He reaffirmed the party’s commitment to justice and urged Tinubu to pay close attention to the concerns and expectations of northern Nigerians.
Yari had earlier described Kaduna as “the spiritual centre of politics in Northern Nigeria”, pointing to the presence of governors and other political leaders at the campaign event.
The Kaduna rally marked the formal launch of the APC’s presidential campaign for Tinubu’s second-term bid, with party leaders presenting continuity, economic reforms and infrastructure development as central themes of their appeal to voters.
