The Director General of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Senator AbdulAziz Yari, has assured President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the support of the Northern region for his re-election bid in the 2027 presidential election.
Yari said the North would repay what he described as Tinubu’s political loyalty to the region when he led the leadership of the campaign council to the palace of the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, in Lagos, according to a statement by Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Lagos State governor, Gboyega Akosile.
The former Zamfara State governor recalled that Tinubu had resisted pressure to challenge former President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 presidential election, choosing instead to support the former president to complete his second term.
According to Yari, Tinubu’s decision demonstrated his commitment to the North and created a political obligation for the region to support his bid to remain in office beyond 2027.
“For us in the North, I think it is time for us to pay Tinubu back for allowing the North complete its full term,” Yari said.
He added that there was no excuse for the Northern region not to support Tinubu, whom he said had begun the process of transforming the country despite inheriting difficult economic conditions.
Yari said the campaign council was not seeking Tinubu’s re-election solely on the basis of political power rotation, but because of what he described as the administration’s achievements in resetting the economy and developing infrastructure.
He said Tinubu could count on the support of people in the North to continue his administration beyond 2027.
“The message from the Northern Nigeria where I came from is that, there is nothing to worry about,” Yari said, assuring the President that the region would do its best to ensure that his political journey continued.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who received Yari and members of the campaign council before leading them to the palace, described the delegation as a team of experienced political leaders and administrators.
He said the campaign council’s decision to commence its nationwide engagement with traditional rulers demonstrated the importance of traditional institutions to peace, unity and national development.
Receiving the delegation, the Oba of Lagos declared that there would be no vacancy in the Presidential Villa in 2027, expressing confidence that Tinubu would secure re-election.
“One important thing that I know is that, in the next four to five years, there is no vacancy in Aso Rock,” Akiolu said.
The monarch, however, urged the campaign council to ensure that its activities were issue-based, while calling on Nigerians to embrace honesty, hard work, unity and sincerity of purpose.
He also cautioned against allowing political differences to degenerate into enmity among citizens.
The delegation that received the campaign council included Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat, Lagos APC chairman Cornelius Ojelabi, members of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Governance Advisory Council members and local government chairmen.
