Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, and the Director-General of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, Abdulaziz Yari, have expressed confidence that northern Nigerians will vote for President Bola Tinubu in the January 16, 2027 presidential election.
They said the votes would be in appreciation of his administration’s interventions in infrastructure, security, agriculture and other sectors.
Sani spoke on Saturday during the APC’s 2027 presidential campaign flag-off in Kaduna, where he highlighted the Federal Government’s road projects and security interventions in the North, particularly Kaduna State.
He cited the ongoing reconstruction of the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Expressway, the Kaduna-Birnin Gwari Road project and the reopening of schools and primary healthcare centres previously closed due to insecurity.
He said, “In the last three and a half years, Your Excellency, Mr President, and your dear wife, our First Lady, have shown Kaduna and indeed the North genuine love. We are truly proud as a people of Kaduna State and indeed Northern Nigeria.
“Mr President, decisive interventions in transportation, education, healthcare, agriculture, security and human capital development have brought revival and truly renewed the hope of our people.
“Under your Excellency’s Renewed Hope Agenda, massive developmental interventions by the Federal Government have reached completion in Kaduna State and the North. Several others remain under construction or are passing through approval, funding and implementation. Each carries an obligation to deliver lasting public value.
“That is why today we are affirming our resolve as a people to massively come out in January 2027 to vote for continuity. We are voting for a promise keeper to continue with the good work he is already doing in Kaduna State and in general.”
Sani said Tinubu had fulfilled his promises to reconstruct the 123-kilometre Kaduna-Birnin Gwari Road and tackle insecurity along the corridor. He said N117bn had been released for the project, which had been abandoned for over 40 years.
He recalled that Tinubu visited Birnin Gwari during his 2022 presidential campaign despite security concerns, travelling with 27 armoured vehicles escorting him and other party leaders.
The governor said work had commenced on the Zaria-Soba-Birnin Gwari Road. He added that $865m had been approved for the Kaduna Metropolitan Red Line project, with the contractor, Mota-Engil, mobilising $300m.
Sani continued, “Mr President, from the North-West of Nigeria, we want to thank you because most of the students who have benefited from this intervention are children of the poor and underserved. You have given them a future. You have given them life, and we believe education is the greatest leveller you can give anyone to have a future, Mr President.
“Mr President, I also want to thank you. When I visited you recently, two years ago, I drew your attention, Mr President, to the fact that the Kaduna-Abuja-Kano Road was the most important road in Northern Nigeria. And you agreed with me, Mr President, at that time. You also assured us that you were going to pay the N740bn for the reconstruction of the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Expressway. As we are speaking, Mr President, 95 per cent of the work has been completed.
“We want to thank you, Mr President, because the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway connects 12 states in the North-West, North-Central and North-East, Mr President, as well as connecting Northern Nigeria to the southern part of Nigeria.
“We remain grateful to you because there were two reasons why the previous government abandoned the Abuja-Kaduna Road. The reasons were two: number one, insecurity; number two, funding.”
The governor said improved security along the Abuja-Kaduna Road had reduced kidnapping incidents, adding that over 90 per cent of Kaduna residents attending the rally had travelled through the route.
Sani challenged opposition candidates from the North to present their road construction records, saying that over 1,000 kilometres of roads had been constructed in the region under Tinubu. He also praised the President’s support for agriculture.
He added, “Today, I am speaking on behalf of all the governors here, particularly those from Northern Nigeria. No leader in the history of Nigeria has supported agricultural transformation as substantially as you have done, Mr President, and that is a record. We are talking based on statistics and data, Mr President.
“At this juncture, I want to thank you, Mr President, and assure you that the people of Northern Nigeria will repay you with their votes. You have seen, Mr President, the people coming from the airport to the stadium. They will come out on January 16 to vote for you.”
Yari said Tinubu’s administration had recorded progress in the economy, citing subsidy removal, exchange rate changes and other economic measures.
He said the APC would campaign on its record in infrastructure, healthcare, education and human capital development, adding that northern leaders were mobilising traditional rulers and religious leaders to support Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027.
He said, “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.
“Mr President, this is where we are. We are committed. 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.
“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.
“We are committed to justice. We are committed to what we are taught to be, and that is how we are going to be. 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.”
The Kaduna rally marks the official launch of Tinubu’s 2027 re-election campaign.