Presidential Campaign Council: North-Central APC backs Yari to deliver victory for Tinubu

The North-Central All Progressives Congress, APC, Forum has backed ex-Zamfara State Governor, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, to deliver on his appointment as Director General of the party’s Presidential Campaign Council, PCC.

The Forum said it has confidence in Yari’s ability to deliver victory for Tinubu and the APC in the 2027 election.

The North-Central APC Forum spoke in a statement released on Wednesday by its Chairman, Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga. The Forum, which comprises APC stakeholders in the North-Central states, said President Bola Tinubu made the right choice in picking Yari to lead his re-election campaign.

The Forum also backed the appointment of two other members of the Presidential Campaign Council from the North-Central, James Abiodun Faleke and Comrade Okpokwu Ogenyi. Faleke, a member of the House of Representatives, is the Deputy Director General, Election Planning, Coordination and Monitoring, while Opkokwu is the Zonal Secretary, Support Group Coordination, North-Central.

According to the Forum, Yari’s appointment has consolidated Tinubu’s support base in the North and was also welcomed by APC members and supporters in other parts of the country.

“Senator Yari is a politician that is widely accepted across the northern states – North-East, North-West and North-Central. He is a respected leader who is regarded as a rallying point for progressives in the North and other parts of the country. He is someone that is respected and embraced by the Emirs and other political leaders, as well as religious leaders, the youths and women.

“Going by his track record, there is no doubt that he has what it takes to deliver victory for President Bola Tinubu and the APC in 2027,” the Forum said, adding that the President could not have made a better choice from “the pool of highly qualified eminent personalities” in the party.

The North-Central APC noted that Yari’s appointment did not come as a surprise “as he had been investing his time and resources” in mobilizing for Tinubu’s re-election.

Yari is the founder and leader of The Renewed Hope Network, TRN, a political grassroots mobilization group that is focused on showcasing the achievements recorded under the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

Yari, who currently represents Zamfara West in the Senate, was elected governor of Zamfara State in 2011 on the platform of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP. He was a founding member of the APC, following the formation of the party after the merger of the ANPP and other opposition parties. He was re-elected as Zamfara governor under the APC platform in 2015.

A former member of the House of Representatives, where he represented Anka/Talata Mafara Federal Constituency from 2007 to 2011, Yari succeeded former Rivers State governor Chibuike Amaechi as chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum on May 18, 2015.

The North-Central APC Forum also highlighted Yari’s experience in party administration, noting that he served as National Financial Secretary of the ANPP and as the party’s chairman in Zamfara State.

The Forum therefore urged all stakeholders in the APC to extend all the required support to the Presidential Campaign Council towards ensuring Tinubu’s re-election in the 2027 election.

“We restate our commitment to Mr President’s election for a second term in office and in the same vein pledge our full and total support to the Presidential Campaign Council led by Senator Abdulaziz Yari. We will work with the council, especially the North-Central Coordinator Okpokwu Ogenyi, to actualize our promise to deliver six million votes for Mr President in the North-Central in the 2027 election,” the Forum added.

The North-Central APC stakeholders noted that Faleke and Ogenyi have the track records to back up their roles in the APC Presidential Campaign Council.

Faleke, who represents Ikeja Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, served as the Secretary of the Presidential Campaign Council for the Bola Tinubu/Kashim Shettima 2023 presidential campaign. As leader of the Tinubu Support Group, in April 2022, Faleke led a delegation of loyalists and close associates to purchase the N100 million APC presidential nomination and expression of interest forms on behalf of Tinubu. He also served as Tinubu’s official agent during the APC presidential primaries in the 2023 election.

Before his appointment as North-Central Coordinator of the APC Presidential Campaign Council for the 2027 poll, Ogenyi worked with Yari as the leader of the Technical Committee of the The Renewed Hope Network, TRN.

The Forum declared its readiness to work with Ogenyi to mobilize votes for Tinubu across the North-Central states, noting that with his appointment, the group is on course to actualize the pledge to deliver six million votes for Tinubu in the coming election.