APC Chair: North Will Give Tinubu Over 70% in 2027

By: Tunji Okunlola

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nentawe Yilwatda, has predicted that the North will deliver more than 70 per cent of its votes to President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.

He spoke on Saturday in Abuja at the commissioning of the Arewa for Asiwaju (A4A) secretariat, where he urged northerners to back Tinubu’s re-election, pointing to infrastructure projects, appointments and other initiatives of the administration.

The case for a second term

Yilwatda listed road projects across northern states, the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline, irrigation dams, railways, healthcare programmes and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund among the interventions he said should earn Tinubu northern support.

“Today is a time for us to renew a mandate that was largely supported by the North, and the North, again, will largely support the return of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term,” he said. He also cited Vice President Kashim Shettima’s place on the ticket as a reason to vote for the pair, and said Tinubu had built an inclusive environment that brings together people of different faiths and tribes.

On roads, he named the Trans-Saharan Super Highway and routes linking Maiduguri, Biu, Gombe and Bauchi, which he said cover over 1,000 kilometres. He said the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano (over 441km) and Kano-Maiduguri (over 500km) roads alone exceed 900km, and he also mentioned the Ilorin-Niger-Kebbi-Sokoto-Illela route, at just over 700km. He said Tinubu had covered every geopolitical zone in the North with road projects. He also cited railway projects, new health centres and free medical services for pregnant women.

“Win our hometowns”

Noting that all but one serving governor, as well as former governors, senators and speakers, were present, Yilwatda said: “If we win only in our respective hometowns and polling units, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will secure over 70 per cent of the votes in the North.”

A4A’s plans

Former Kebbi State Governor Muhammad Badaru Abubakar, Director-General of Arewa for Asiwaju, said Tinubu’s record on infrastructure, education, social investment and security justified a second term. He said the campaign would mobilise support for the Tinubu-Shettima ticket at ward, local government and state levels, working through governors, legislators, traditional institutions and youths.

Abubakar said the student loan scheme had opened university doors to young people who might otherwise be excluded, and that security had improved significantly, with people returning to farms and rebuilding communities. “Much work remains, and we will not pretend otherwise,” he said.

He described the campaign headquarters as a three-block complex of three-storey buildings, with offices, a conference room and a situation room for monitoring campaign activities. “We will go to the markets, to the farms, to the campuses and to the mosques and churches,” he said, promising to tell the story of what has been done and listen to what remains.