Director-General of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), Senator Abdulaziz Yari, has called on Nigerians in the North to support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027, arguing that Tinubu supported former President Muhammadu Buhari when power was in the hands of the North.
Yari made the appeal on Monday when he led members of the PCC to the palace of the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, in Lagos.
The former Zamfara State governor said Tinubu resisted pressure to contest the 2019 presidential election while Buhari was seeking a second term, insisting at the time that it was the North’s turn to retain the presidency.
Yari argued that Tinubu’s decision created an obligation for northern political stakeholders to reciprocate by supporting his bid for another term.
“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 recalled that some members of the APC had attempted to convince Tinubu to seek the presidency in 2019.
“I remember there was a struggle by some power-mongering bloc within the APC that tried to convince Tinubu to contest the presidential election in 2019. He resisted the pressure and said it was the turn of the north.
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 from Tinubu’s re-election campaign.
“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.
The senator assured Tinubu of continued backing from the North, saying political leaders in the region who believe in justice and fairness would work towards ensuring that the president’s administration continues.
“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.
The senator representing Zamfara West also defended the Tinubu administration, saying the president had restructured the country despite inheriting what he described as a difficult situation from previous administrations.
Yari added that the PCC was not campaigning for Tinubu’s re-election solely on the basis of power rotation, but because it believed Nigerians wanted him to remain in office.
Earlier, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu received the PCC delegation before accompanying the members to the Oba’s palace.
Sanwo-Olu said the campaign council’s decision to engage traditional rulers demonstrated the important role of traditional institutions in promoting peace, unity and national development.
