2027: Tinubu, Shettima, APC governors storm Kaduna for campaign launch

President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, Abdul’aziz Yari, Director-General of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, and Nentawe Yilwatda, national chairman of the party, are leading the ruling party’s heavyweights to Kaduna for its first presidential campaign rally ahead of the January 16, 2027 election.

The rally, scheduled for Saturday, is expected to draw APC governors, members of the National Working Committee (NWC), National Executive Committee (NEC) and National Caucus, leaders of the National Assembly, former governors, state chairmen and other party stalwarts, as Tinubu’s re-election campaign officially begins.

The rally marks the APC’s first major presidential campaign outing since the commencement of campaigns on August 19, setting the stage for a contest in which the ruling party faces a determined opposition led by the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).

Kaduna occupies a strategic position in the APC’s campaign calculations, having delivered a presidential election victory to Atiku Abubakar, then candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), over Tinubu in 2023.

The state is also emerging as a critical battleground in the 2027 contest, with Atiku now flying the ADC’s presidential flag and Nasir El-Rufai, former governor of the state, serving as deputy chairman of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council.

The APC’s decision to first open its nationwide campaign tour in Kaduna offers Tinubu an opportunity to strengthen the party’s foothold in the North-West, mobilise supporters and challenge the opposition’s influence in a state that proved decisive in the previous presidential election.

BusinessDay reports that the APC’s proposed 36-state campaign schedule begins in Kaduna and ends with a grand rally in Lagos on January 9, 2027, one week before the election day.

Under the proposed itinerary, Tinubu is expected to personally attend rallies in 12 states: – Kaduna, Rivers, Plateau, Oyo, Borno, Enugu, Bauchi, Sokoto, Delta, Kano, Adamawa and Lagos.

The selection includes several major electoral battlegrounds, reflecting the party’s effort to balance nationwide mobilisation with the demands of governance as Tinubu seeks a second term.