2027: North should repay Tinubu for backing Buhari, Yari tells Northerners

LAGOS — Senator Abdulaziz Yari, Director-General of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), has urged northern political stakeholders to return the favour President Bola Tinubu showed the region by supporting his re-election in 2027.

Yari said Tinubu had chosen to support former President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election in 2019 despite pressure from some APC members to contest the presidency himself.

Speaking on Monday during a PCC visit to the palace of the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, the former Zamfara governor said the North should reciprocate Tinubu’s earlier support.

“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,” he said.

Yari recalled that a group within the APC had sought to convince Tinubu to enter the 2019 presidential race, but the former Lagos State governor declined, arguing that the presidency should remain with the North.

“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,” Yari said.

He added: “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.”

Yari argued that the North should now support Tinubu’s bid for another term, saying there was no reason for the region to withhold its backing.

“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 representing Zamfara West further assured Tinubu that he could rely on political leaders in the North who, according to him, remained committed to justice and fairness.

“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.

Yari defends Tinubu’s record

Yari also defended the performance of the Tinubu administration, arguing that the president had restructured the country despite taking over from previous administrations under challenging circumstances.

He said the PCC’s push for Tinubu’s re-election was not based solely on the principle of power rotation, but on its belief that Nigerians wanted the president to continue in office.

Earlier, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu received the PCC delegation before joining its members on their visit to the Oba of Lagos.

Sanwo-Olu said the campaign council’s decision to engage traditional rulers highlighted the role of traditional institutions in promoting peace, unity and national development.

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