Vice-President Kashim Shettima and the Director-General of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Abdulaziz Yari, have mobilised northern voters behind President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid, with Yari promising the ruling party 100 per cent support from the region in the 2027 presidential election.
The two APC chieftains made the appeal on Saturday at the party’s presidential campaign flag-off in Kaduna, where they urged voters to reward Tinubu with a second term, citing his political support for northern leaders, the administration’s infrastructure projects and what they described as progress in key economic indicators.
Shettima, in a direct appeal to the North, argued that Tinubu had consistently stood behind influential northern political figures at critical moments in their political careers and deserved reciprocal support from the region.
“We have come to ask you to renew a second time for the APC from top to bottom,” the vice-president declared.
He recalled Tinubu’s support for former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar following his fallout with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying the former Lagos governor had provided him with political backing and a platform to pursue the presidency in 2007.
Shettima also cited Tinubu’s support for Nuhu Ribadu, former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and current National Security Adviser, during the 2011 presidential election.
But he placed particular emphasis on Tinubu’s role in Buhari’s successful presidential campaigns in 2015 and 2019, presenting the relationship as evidence of the president’s loyalty to northern political interests.
“And you can bear witness that in 2015 and 2019, President Tinubu stood solidly behind the late President Muhammadu Buhari, throughout his first and second term victories. This is a mark of honour and our faith in a man of honour,” Shettima said.
The vice-president urged northern voters to consider this political history as they prepare to decide the region’s position in the 2027 election, calling for renewed support for APC candidates at all levels.
‘Northern Nigeria Is 100% Yours’
Yari, a former governor of Zamfara State, raised the stakes with an emphatic pledge of overwhelming northern support for Tinubu, assuring the president that the campaign council would work to translate the region’s backing into electoral victory.
“Northern Nigeria is 100% yours, insha Allah. This is the promise that we make, and you are going to see it in January 2027,” Yari declared.
He said the APC campaign council had been engaging traditional rulers, Islamic scholars and imams to communicate the administration’s record and rally support for Tinubu’s second-term ambition.
According to him, the campaign would focus on infrastructure, healthcare, education, human capital development and social welfare, while working with APC governors across the country to strengthen the party’s electoral machinery.
Yari also pushed back against criticism that the Tinubu administration had neglected farmers, claiming that about two million farmers had committed to voting for the president.
“They are lying that the government of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu does not like farmers, that you hate farmers. That is not true,” he said.
He accused critics of using artificial intelligence to spread misleading claims about the administration, insisting that the government’s economic record should be assessed through indicators such as the exchange rate, foreign reserves and trade balance.
Yari claimed that the exchange rate had improved from levels approaching ₦1,800 to about ₦1,300, while foreign reserves had risen from $3.9 billion to between $54 billion and $57.7 billion. He also put the country’s trade balance at about ₦7.5 trillion, compared with roughly ₦44 billion in 2023.
The figures were presented by Yari as evidence of economic progress under Tinubu, although the specific periods and measurement bases for the comparisons were not detailed in his remarks.
Shettima Lists Kaduna Projects
Beyond the political appeal, Shettima defended the Tinubu administration’s record in Kaduna State, arguing that investments in education and infrastructure provided reasons for voters to renew the APC’s mandate.
He said the government had prioritised efforts to restore Kaduna’s reputation as a centre of learning through the establishment and upgrading of federal institutions.
Among the projects he cited were the Federal University of Applied Sciences in Kachia and the transition to the Federal University of Education in Zaria.
Shettima also mentioned a vocational institute in Rigachikun, which he said had produced more than 4,000 graduates, alongside support provided to students through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
He further listed ongoing transportation and energy projects, including the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline, the Lagos-Kano rail corridor and the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road.
The vice-president also pointed to work on the proposed Sokoto-Badagry highway, describing it as a project that could open up agricultural production and economic opportunities across the country.
“These are the projects that we have continued and are advancing to improve connectivity, support economic activity and open up opportunities for Nigerians,” his remarks indicated.
Yari, meanwhile, said the campaign council would complement the efforts of APC governors and other party structures to secure victory in 2027.
“The governors, your commanders in the states, are doing a remarkable job. We are going to complement them, and by God’s grace, the victory is ours,” he said.
The Kaduna rally marks an early effort by the ruling party to consolidate its northern political base ahead of the 2027 presidential election, with Shettima invoking Tinubu’s political alliances and Yari projecting confidence in the region’s electoral support.
Whether the campaign’s promise of 100 per cent northern backing translates into votes will ultimately be determined by voters at the ballot box.
