The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has intensified its mobilisation ahead of the 2027 general elections, with Senator Abdulaziz Yari appealing to northern political stakeholders to support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid.
Yari, Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, said the North should reciprocate the support he claimed Tinubu gave former President Muhammadu Buhari during the 2019 presidential election.
Speaking during a visit by the campaign council to the palace of the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, Yari argued that Tinubu deliberately stepped aside in 2019 to allow Buhari, a northerner, to complete his second term.
According to him, Tinubu resisted pressure from some APC members who wanted him to contest against Buhari, maintaining that it was the North’s turn to produce the president.
Yari said that decision should now form part of the political considerations of northern stakeholders as the 2027 election approaches.
He maintained that the North had no reason to withhold its support from Tinubu, insisting that political leaders who believe in fairness and justice should work towards securing the president’s continuation in office.
The former Zamfara governor also defended the Tinubu administration, arguing that the president had undertaken significant restructuring of the country despite inheriting difficult economic and political circumstances.
Rather than presenting the 2027 campaign solely as a matter of power rotation, Yari said the campaign council was seeking another mandate based on what it described as the need for continuity.
The mobilisation effort also highlights the increasing role of traditional institutions in the APC’s engagement strategy ahead of the elections.
Before visiting the Oba of Lagos, the delegation was received by Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who said traditional rulers remained important partners in promoting peace, unity and national development.
With political parties and campaign structures already positioning themselves ahead of 2027, Yari’s appeal signals an attempt by the APC to strengthen Tinubu’s support base across the northern region while framing the president’s re-election as an issue of political reciprocity and continuity.
