RismadarVoice Reporters
September 15, 2026
The Director-General of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, Abdul’aziz Yari, has urged Nigerians in the northern region to support President Bola Tinubu’s bid for re-election in the 2027 presidential election.
Yari, a former governor of Zamfara State and serving senator representing Zamfara West, said northern support for Tinubu would be a way of reciprocating the President’s backing for the late former President Muhammadu Buhari, who governed Nigeria for two terms between 2015 and 2023.
He appealed on Monday when he led a delegation of the APC Presidential Campaign Council to the palace of the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwanu Akiolu, in Lagos.
Yari recalled that Tinubu, despite pressure from some members of the APC to seek the presidency in 2019, chose instead to support Buhari’s re-election bid because it was the North’s turn to produce the President.
According to him, Tinubu’s decision demonstrated political commitment to the principle of power rotation and should be remembered by northern voters ahead of the 2027 election.
“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 argued that Tinubu resisted pressure from what he described as a “power-mongering bloc” within the APC that wanted him to contest the 2019 presidential election.
Yari said Tinubu had maintained that Buhari should be supported to complete his political journey and that he remained committed to that position until Buhari secured re-election.
The APC campaign council chief therefore called on northern voters to reciprocate what he described as Tinubu’s earlier support for the region by backing his bid to remain in office beyond 2027.
“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.
Yari further expressed confidence that influential figures in northern Nigeria would support Tinubu’s re-election campaign, saying the President could count on people who believed in what he described as justice and fairness.
He also defended the administration’s record, arguing that Tinubu had undertaken significant restructuring of the country after inheriting difficult economic and administrative conditions from previous governments.
The senator stressed that the campaign for Tinubu’s second term was not being driven solely by the principle of rotating power between Nigeria’s regions.
According to him, the campaign council’s position was also based on its belief that Nigerians wanted Tinubu to remain in office to continue the policies and reforms initiated by his administration.
The appeal comes as political activities intensify ahead of the 2027 general elections, with major political parties and emerging opposition coalitions positioning themselves for what is expected to be a competitive presidential contest.
The APC formally constituted its Presidential Campaign Council on August 22, 2026, ahead of the general election, appointing Yari as Director-General and Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma as Secretary.
During the Lagos meeting, Oba Akiolu also expressed support for Tinubu’s continued presidency.
The monarch declared that, in his view, there would be no vacancy at Nigeria’s presidential seat for the next four or five years, signalling his backing for Tinubu’s re-election bid.
The 2027 contest is expected to be shaped by issues including regional power rotation, economic conditions, security, party alliances and the performance of the incumbent administration, as political parties begin to mobilise supporters across the country.
