Follow Us on Google
Director-General of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, has urged northerners to support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027, saying the North should reciprocate the support Tinubu gave former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Yari made the call on Monday when he led members of the campaign council to the palace of the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, as part of the council’s engagement with traditional rulers ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
The former Zamfara State governor recalled that Tinubu resisted pressure to challenge Buhari for the presidency in 2019, insisting that it was the North’s turn to produce the president.
“For us in the north, I think it is time for us to pay Tinubu back for allowing the north to complete its full term,” Yari said.
He said some politicians within the APC had attempted to persuade Tinubu to contest against Buhari in 2019, but the current president rejected the move and remained behind Buhari’s re-election bid.
“Tinubu said as long as Buhari can come out and ask people to vote for him, he would be with Buhari till the end. And that was what Tinubu truly did,” he said.
Yari said the North therefore had no justification for withholding its support for Tinubu in 2027, urging political stakeholders in the region to back the President for a second term.
“Today, I don’t think there is an excuse for us from the northern region not to support Tinubu to continue the good job he started and complete his tenure,” he said.
He assured Tinubu of continued backing from northern political leaders, saying those committed to justice and fairness would work to ensure the President’s re-election.
“The message from northern Nigeria, where I came from, is that there is nothing to worry about. There are still people of high calibre and character who believe in justice and fairness. We are going to do our best to ensure that Tinubu’s journey continues to the end. He can count on us,” Yari said.
Yari also defended the Tinubu administration, arguing that the campaign council was seeking a second term for the President not simply because of power rotation but because it believed his administration had begun restructuring the country after inheriting a difficult situation.
Earlier, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu received the campaign council delegation before accompanying its members to the Oba’s palace. Sanwo-Olu said the council’s engagement with traditional rulers reflected the importance of traditional institutions in promoting peace, unity and national development.
