2027: Tinubu’s Second Term Will Benefit North More, Shettima Assures

Vice President Kashim Shettima has urged northern leaders and residents to support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027, saying the region stands to benefit more from the administration.

Shettima made the call on Monday when he received a delegation of Arewa for Asiwaju (A4A), a northern-based think tank campaigning for Tinubu’s re-election, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

According to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications in the Office of the Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, on Monday, October 12, Shettima said the North had no reason to fear a second term for Tinubu, citing government appointments, projects and programmes in the region.

He urged northern leaders to unite behind the President, stressing that the administration remained committed to the development of the region and the welfare of its people.

“Let’s unite as a people and work for the development of our region and the progress of our people through the re-election of this administration. We are benefiting and we stand to benefit more from this government in many ways,” the Vice President said.

Shettima also cited the Federal Government’s support for smallholder farmers, saying the Bank of Agriculture had disbursed N450 billion to 700,000 farmers, with about 70 per cent of the beneficiaries from northern Nigeria.

“The Bank of Agriculture has disbursed N450 billion to 700,000 smallholder farmers in Nigeria and about 70 percent of the beneficiaries are from the north,” he said.

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He added that the administration was working to complete major projects across the country, assuring the delegation of Tinubu’s commitment to the region.

“I can assure you that the president loves the north and the president will work for the north,” Shettima said.

The Vice President thanked the group for its support for Tinubu and urged its members to intensify mobilisation across wards, communities and local government areas ahead of the 2027 election.

Earlier, the Director-General of A4A and former Jigawa State Governor, Abubakar Badaru, said the group was determined to secure the North’s support for Tinubu’s re-election.

Badaru said the organisation planned to engage religious leaders, including Muslim and Christian clerics, as well as other prominent Nigerians, to make a case for the Tinubu-Shettima ticket.

“On discussions with the high profile, we have gone far. We have met them severally and the BoT is meeting them again to consolidate our gains and to tell them why there is need to support this ticket,” he said.

He added that the group was working with the Presidential Campaign Council while concentrating on grassroots mobilisation.

“We are also supporting the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) with whatever they want us to do that is micro in nature because they are so big and we really don’t want to lose sight of the bigger arrangement that is there,” Badaru said.

“We want to focus very well on the contacts at the grassroots – the local government areas and the wards,” he added.

Also speaking, the Chairman of A4A’s Board of Trustees and former Kano State Governor, Ibrahim Shekarau, said the group would replicate its efforts during the 2023 general election in the campaign for Tinubu’s re-election.

Shekarau said the organisation had been engaging northern governors and other stakeholders to identify areas of collaboration in support of the President’s second-term bid.

He disclosed that plans had been concluded to establish a full-fledged secretariat to coordinate the group’s activities, with offices for directors and state coordinators to review reports, analyse progress and issue directives to members.

Shekarau also invited Shettima to commission the organisation’s office complex on October 17, 2027.

Former governors Joshua Dariye of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, Jolly Nyame of Taraba State, Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, Ibrahim Shehu Shema of Katsina State and Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State were among those present at the meeting.

Also in attendance were the President’s Special Adviser on Policy and Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman, and the Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Buba Marwa, alongside other government officials and members of the organisation.