…Says Kaduna, North will repay president with votes
From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Kaduna
Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, has challenged opposition politicians seeking to unseat President Bola Tinubu in 2027 to present their records in office, insisting that northern origin alone is insufficient to earn voters’ support.
Sani, who expressed confidence that the North would repay Tinubu with votes, cited the President’s interventions in infrastructure, security, education, healthcare and agriculture as evidence of his administration’s performance.
He spoke yesterday at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna, during the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign flag-off, where he welcomed Tinubu and other party leaders.
“When someone comes to us and says we should vote for him simply because he is a northerner, we ask him: can you show us your track record?” Sani said.
Recalling Tinubu’s visit to Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State on December 22, 2022, despite security concerns, the governor said the journey from Kaduna took four hours, with the then presidential candidate escorted by 27 armoured vehicles.
According to Sani, Tinubu promised to reconstruct the 123-kilometre Kaduna-Birnin Gwari Road, which he said had been abandoned for more than 40 years, and address insecurity along the corridor.
He claimed both promises were being fulfilled, disclosing that N170 billion had been released to the road contractor.
“Today, you can travel to Birnin Gwari with your eyes closed without a single police escort. That is progress, Mr President,” he said.
The governor added that insecurity had forced the closure of more than 300 schools and 150 primary healthcare centres across eight local government areas when he assumed office in 2023. He said the affected facilities had since reopened following improved security.
On other infrastructure projects, Sani said work had commenced on the Zaria-Soba-Pambegua Road following Tinubu’s intervention.
He also disclosed that $865 million had been approved for the Kaduna metropolitan rail project, adding that the contractor informed him that $300 million had been released.
Sani praised the Federal Government’s commitment to the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Expressway, describing it as a strategic route connecting northern Nigeria and linking 12 states across the North-West, North-Central and North-East. He put the project’s cost at N740 billion and said 95 per cent of the section under reference had been completed.
The governor further attributed renewed confidence in road travel along the Abuja-Kaduna corridor to improved security.
On education, he said the North-West had received N84 billion under the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), benefiting about 414,000 students. He added that 34,000 artisans across the region had benefited from federal skills-development programmes, including training and starter kits.
Sani also commended Tinubu’s support for agriculture, saying federal assistance to state governments was helping strengthen production and livelihoods.
Urging northern voters to judge candidates by their records rather than regional identity, he accused opposition parties of relying on artificial intelligence-generated content instead of substantive campaigns.
“The opposition are only campaigning with AI, no real campaign,” he said.
He expressed confidence that Kaduna and other northern states would support Tinubu in 2027, citing infrastructure and social-sector interventions as evidence of the President’s appeal.
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