2027: Northern power brokers, Emirs, Imams behind Tinubu, Yari assures

By Omeiza Ajayi

ABUJA: Director General of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council APC-PCC, Senator Abdul’aziz Yari, has assured President Bola Tinubu that the power brokers of Northern Nigeria, traditional rulers and Islamic clerics are solidly behind his return to office in 2027.

He spoke at the flag-off of the party’s presidential campaign in Kaduna, in the presence of the President and all the governors of Northern Nigeria.

“We have been engaging all and sundry, our traditional rulers, our ulama and our imams, to understand the importance of your return in 2027 for continuity, for the peace of this country and for Nigeria,” Yari said.

He told the President that the northern establishment had turned out in full.

“We believe in you, and those people believe in us. All the shakers and movers of this part of the country are here. In the northern part of the country, anybody who is not here today, Mr President, then there is nobody there. We are here.

“By God’s grace, Your Excellency, Mr President, we resolve, by God’s grace, that as far as Northern Nigeria is concerned, Mr President, I need your ears. Mr President, I want you to listen to us carefully. Northern Nigeria is 101 per cent for you, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, by God’s grace, Insha Allah. And the promise we have made, you are going to see it on January 16, 2027,” Yari said.

Yari described Kaduna as “the spiritual centre of politics in Northern Nigeria”, adding that the venue had drawn “all the governors of Northern Nigeria”.

On the economy, he said the President’s reforms had changed the country’s fortunes. “If we talk about the economy, we know the state of the economy when you stepped into the leadership of this country. Today, the total indices have changed completely to the advantage of Nigeria and other countries of the world.

“Mr President, I can enumerate at least a few: from the exchange rate, to the subsidy removal and many more,” Yari added.

The APC-PCC boss said the party would take its case to voters on the strength of the administration’s achievements.

“We Nigerians, at the head of this campaign, are going to campaign with our records. Our records are there. The infrastructure is there. What you did in health, education and human capital development is there. The students are there. The transparent cash and conditional cash transfers are also there for men and women,” he said.

Turning to the 2023 election, Yari said: “I would like to be a student again, to be told how you did it, because we want the country.”

He said the party was committed to justice and urged the President to listen closely to the North’s message.