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To Benefit from Hajj, Jerusalem seats
From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Kaduna North Senatorial District, otherwise known as Zone 1, has risen from its stakeholders’ meeting in Zaria on Saturday, endorsing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani, and the Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, for a second term.
Speaker Abbas, in his address, said there is over N50 billion in the 2025 federal budget set aside for projects in the eight local government areas that make up Kaduna State Zone 1, while funds close to that amount have also been voted for projects in Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Kaduna State University, and College of Education, Gidan Waya, among others.
The Speaker also disclosed that farm inputs, equipment, and seedlings will, in the coming weeks, be distributed to thousands of farmers across the eight local government areas of Zone 1, just as he said stakeholders in the Zone will get seats for Hajj and Jerusalem pilgrimage so that they can go and pray for Nigeria.
The stakeholders, including a former Governor, serving and former Ministers, members of the National and State House of Assemblies, Ambassadors, Commissioners, heads of federal and state government departments and agencies, and party leaders, converged at the auditorium of the Federal University of Education, Zaria, for the all-important meeting.
At the meeting, where stakeholders took turns to highlight the achievements of the APC-led administration at the federal and state levels, as well as the giant strides of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Governor Uba Sani, and Speaker Tajudeen Abbas respectively, party members were strongly advised to uphold the unity of the APC for greater success in the 2027 general elections.
Speaking on the need for unity ahead of the next general elections, the Minister of Environment, Malam Balarabe Lawal Abbas, said it is only with unity of purpose that the APC can achieve the desired victory.
He emphasised that President Tinubu has demonstrated his love for the people of Kaduna State through several projects and through his support for the emergence of Dr Tajudeen Abbas as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The Minister, however, said that the best way Kaduna, and particularly the people of Zone 1, can reciprocate the President’s show of love is by ensuring that APC wins all the elective positions in the State, from the presidency to state assembly seats, come 2027.
He pointed out that President Tinubu had recently re-awarded the once-dreaded Abuja-Kaduna road, where bandits used to hunt down travellers, and has directed that the project must be completed within the next six months.
He informed the gathering that the President has equally awarded the construction of the Zaria to Sokoto road and has directed that it must be completed in six months.
Minister Balarabe Lawal Abbas, however, warned the people of Zone 1 and people of Kaduna State in general to stay away from the ‘blind horse’, which has been going round but cannot take them anywhere, apparently referring to former Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s new party, the SDP, whose logo is a horse.
While thanking President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Uba Sani for their strong support towards his emergence as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dr Tajudeen Abbas said the best way to thank and reciprocate the President and Governor Sani’s good gestures is to mobilise voters and ensure they get re-elected, adding that it is only by ensuring their success that his own good work can continue.
He, however, called for the sustenance of regular party meetings at the ward, local government, and zonal levels to discuss the way forward, just as he charged all elected and appointed members of the party to use their positions to the benefit of all members and not for their personal gains alone.
Earlier in his remarks, Senator Suleiman Othman Hunkuyi said the opposition parties do not have the quality of leaders paraded by the APC; hence, APC members must reject the antics of the opposition, who want them to believe that their leaders are not good enough.
Former Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, who advocated a house-to-house campaign ahead of the 2027 general elections, said Zone 1 is the nucleus of Kaduna politics, and the APC leaders and members must mobilise effectively to help President Tinubu, Governor Uba Sani, and Speaker Tajudeen Abbas retain their seats.
In his welcome address, the Secretary to the Government of Kaduna State, Dr Abdulkadir Muazu Meyere, said Zone 1 is the most blessed among the three zones of the state, as it has many prominent party stalwarts like the Speaker and the Minister of Environment, among several others.
He, therefore, called on members of the party from the zone to give unalloyed loyalty to the APC to ensure its success at the polls in the 2027 general elections.
The National Vice Chairman (North West) of the APC, Hon. Mohammed Datti Babawo, who commended President Tinubu, Governor Uba Sani, and Speaker Abbas, whom he described as a silent achiever considering his numerous federal projects attracted to Kaduna State and North-West in general, recalled how the Speaker recently averted a crisis in the composition of the North-West Development Commission.
He disclosed that the APC at the national level will soon roll out electronic registration to ascertain the accurate data of its membership nationwide.
At the close of the meeting, motions were moved for the adoption and endorsement of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Governor Uba Sani, and Speaker Tajudeen Abbas as the sole candidates of the APC for their respective offices, and the motions were unanimously adopted by the stakeholders in attendance.