Acceptance speech by the Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar (Marafan Sokoto)

At the Inauguration of the Council By His Excellency, PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU, GCFR President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, APC Flag Bearer and Chairman of the Campaign Council, Wednesday, 14th October 2026.

 All Protocols duly observed.

A DUTY TO BE CARRIED — AND CARRIED WELL.

I stand before you today with gratitude and a profound sense of duty. To have been called to serve as Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council towards the re-election of the most progressive and impactful administration this country has seen in 26 years, in my humble opinion, a call to national service. And I am truly humbled and honoured by the opportunity to work alongside hundreds of other compatriots towards the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who has demonstrated the capacity to take Nigeria to the promised land.

I therefore want to thank Your Excellency, Mr President, for the confidence you have placed in me. When I received the call to serve in this position, I took time to pray and reflect, fully conscious of the weight of the assignment. I want to assure you of my commitment to working with my colleagues to justify the confidence you have placed in us.

I also want to thank the leadership of our party for its confidence, as well as everyone who has accepted to serve on this Council. I am confident that, with our combined experience, energy and commitment, we will work together towards delivering victory to our party and ultimately the good people of Nigeria, whom we are eager to serve and bring to shared prosperity.

My friends, this inauguration today is not just a ceremony. It is the sounding of a bell. It is the moment our campaign moves from preparation to action — from hope to hard work.

Let me speak plainly, because the times demand plain speech.

THE RECORD SPEAKS: THREE YEARS OF DIFFICULT DECISIONS, MEASURABLE RESULTS

Mr President, when you first sought this office in 2023, you did not promise that the road would be short or easy. You promised that it would be honest. You took the difficult decisions others were afraid to take — you ended a devastating fuel subsidy, you unified our exchange rate, you rebuilt our finances. And today, three years on, we can look our people in the eye and say: the foundation has been laid. Let me take you through that record, figure by figure, because figures are the truest witnesses of any government.

FUEL SUBSIDY REMOVAL: A FISCAL NECESSITY, NOT A POLICY CHOICE

Let me say this clearly, because some people have short memories: the removal of the fuel subsidy was not a policy choice — it was a fiscal necessity. By May 2023, the subsidy was consuming between thirty-eight and fifty-two trillion naira every year — between fifty-six and seventy-six per cent of the entire federal budget. Debt service was accelerating towards consuming every naira that came into the treasury, and our net external reserves had fallen below two billion dollars.

Today, that subsidy bill is zero. Not reduced — zero. The entire 2026 federal budget stands at sixty-eight trillion naira, and not one kobo of it is swallowed by subsidy. Our debt-service-to-revenue ratio has fallen from ninety-seven per cent to below fifty per cent. Our debt-to-GDP ratio has declined from thirty-eight per cent to thirty-two point three per cent — the first sustained decline in over a decade. This is what fiscal discipline looks like when it is written in numbers.

EXCHANGE RATE UNIFICATION: RESTORING HONESTY TO OUR MONEY

Before May 2023, we lived a fiction: an official exchange rate artificially held at between four hundred and sixty and seven hundred naira to the dollar, while the parallel market — the true market — ran to between three thousand five hundred and four thousand five hundred naira. Multiple official windows, a wide parallel-market premium, and no foreign exchange even on naira cards.

Today, the naira trades at a unified official rate of about one thousand three hundred and sixty to the dollar. The gap between the official and the parallel market has been eliminated. Foreign exchange forwards have been cleared, and FX is now allowed on naira cards. And our gross external reserves — which had dropped to about three point nine billion dollars before May 2023 — have been rebuilt to over fifty-one billion dollars, a seventeen-year high reached this August. That is what happens when a government stops defending a fiction and starts defending the national interest.

The benefits are everywhere. Our annual foreign exchange bill for petrol imports has fallen from between twenty-two and twenty-eight billion dollars to between five and eight billion dollars. Foreign portfolio investment, which stood at zero, has reached nine point eight six billion dollars in the first half of 2026 alone. Money is coming home — because honesty has returned to our foreign exchange market.

A GROWING ECONOMY, EASING PRICES, RISING INCOMES

Our economy is growing again — three point nine per cent in the first half of 2026, as confirmed by the National Bureau of Statistics, up from two point seven four per cent in 2023. Headline inflation, which stood at twenty-two point two per cent in April 2023, is now fifteen point nine per cent and still declining.

Our trade balance has moved from a marginal surplus of forty-four point seven billion naira to a surplus of seven point five trillion naira in the first quarter of 2026. Capital importation has risen from three point nine billion dollars to twenty-three point two two billion dollars in 2025. Even our solid minerals sector — long neglected — has grown its revenue contribution from sixteen billion to seventy billion naira. And our crude oil production has climbed from between one point two and one point three million barrels per day to one point seven three million barrels per day this past July — one hundred and four per cent of our OPEC quota, a level we have not seen in years.

And because growth must touch the people: the national minimum wage has moved from thirty thousand to seventy thousand naira. Salaries and pensions are paid as and when due.

HISTORIC REVENUE PERFORMANCE: DISCIPLINED REFORM YIELDS SUSTAINABLE RESULTS

Nigeria is recording a historic domestic revenue performance. In 2021, our federation revenue stood at six point four one trillion naira. By 2025, it had risen to twenty-eight point seven nine trillion naira — more than a four-fold increase — and in the first half of 2026 alone, we have already collected twenty-seven point one trillion naira, within touching distance of the entire 2025 figure.

Look behind the totals and you see discipline at work. In May 2023, total monthly remittances into the federation account stood at seven hundred and eleven billion naira. By July this year, that figure had risen to four point five trillion naira — a five hundred and thirty-two per cent increase.

NRS non-oil collection has grown from one hundred and fifty-one billion to over one trillion naira in a single month. VAT remittances have risen from two hundred and eighteen billion to seven hundred and twenty-three billion naira. The NUPRC has grown from one hundred and twenty-five billion to seven hundred and forty-five billion. The Nigeria Customs Service has grown from one hundred and six billion to three hundred and twenty-two billion. Even the NNPC, which remitted nothing in May 2023, now remits over one hundred and eleven billion naira monthly.

Beyond taxation, fiscal governance has been strengthened through improved remittance systems and tighter controls on public financial flows. Our tax-to-GDP ratio has risen from below ten per cent to thirteen point five per cent, wasteful subsidies have been eliminated, and guaranteed product availability has returned to our filling stations. What belongs to the people now reaches the people.

THE NAIRA-FOR-CRUDE REVOLUTION: FROM IMPORTER TO EXPORTER

The revolutionary initiative of selling crude oil in naira has repositioned the petroleum sector from a fiscal burden into a stabilising anchor for the economy. Domestic refining capacity has grown from thirty thousand barrels per day to seven hundred thousand barrels per day — and in March this year, Nigeria recorded its first net petrol export. Yes, my friends: Nigeria, for decades a net importer of refined fuel, is now exporting petrol.

And the Nigerian motorist is feeling it. Today, our pump price stands at about ninety cents per litre — sixty-three per cent below the global average of one dollar fifty.

We are below the United States at one dollar eight, below India at one dollar seventeen, below South Africa at one dollar twenty-six. The Nigerian motorist pays less for petrol than the American motorist. Let that sink in.

THE MARKET HAS ANSWERED: A RATING OF NIGERIA

And what did the market say to all of this? The market has answered.

In May 2023, the Nigerian Exchange All-Share Index stood at fifty-five thousand seven hundred and thirty-eight points, with a market capitalisation of thirty point three six trillion naira.

READ ALSO: The strategy behind Tinubu’s road revolution

Today, the Index stands at over two hundred and forty-four thousand nine hundred points — up three hundred and thirty-nine per cent — and market capitalisation has surged past one hundred and sixty-one trillion naira, a four hundred and fifty per cent growth since the first half of 2023. In the first half of 2026, the Nigerian stock market delivered a return of one hundred and one per cent — the second-best performing equity market on earth, ahead of Korea’s KOSPI at fifty-seven per cent, Japan’s Nikkei at thirty-nine per cent, Kenya at twenty-seven per cent, and every major emerging-market benchmark.

Foreign portfolio flows have multiplied roughly seven-fold, from one hundred and sixty-five point eight two billion naira to one point two eight trillion naira. Total equity-market transactions have more than doubled to six point zero eight trillion naira.

And this is not merely rising prices — it is a re-rating of Nigeria. It rests on the Investments and Securities Act of 2025, which strengthened regulation and investor protection; on foreign exchange reform and unification, which restored price discovery and revaluation; on the recapitalisation of our banks, which reactivated the primary market; and on stronger corporate fundamentals. The profits tell the story: MTN Nigeria’s profit before tax has grown from two hundred billion to over one trillion naira — more than five times. Dangote, from two hundred and forty billion to nine hundred and eighty-one billion. Aradel, from twenty-eight billion to seven hundred and fifty-two billion. Seplat, from forty-four billion to seven hundred billion. BUA, from seventy-six billion to three hundred and eighty-four billion.

When companies earn more, they hire more, invest more, and pay more taxes. That is the cycle the Renewed Hope Agenda has set in motion.

ROADS AND RAILWAYS: THE HIGHWAYS OF A REBORN NATION

The work of Renewed Hope is visible for all to see. Statistics from the Federal Ministry of Works show that between May 2023 and May 2026, this administration completed about one thousand eight hundred kilometres of major roads — forty major road and bridge projects across all six geopolitical zones — while another five thousand four hundred kilometres of highways, expressways and strategic corridors are under construction, with one hundred and thirty-three projects ongoing across the country.

And let me be specific, because our people deserve specifics. The dualisation of the Abuja–Kaduna – Zaria Road is progressing. The Zaria–Funtua–Gusau dualisation is moving.

The Zaria–Kano corridor is receiving attention, and the ongoing dualisation towards Maiduguri is reconnecting our North-East to the rest of the federation. The Kano–Kaduna–Katsina road — the KKK corridor — is under active construction. And the rail line from Kano through Jigawa and Daura to Maradi in the Niger Republic — a line that will bind Nigeria to the Sahel and open a new frontier of trade and integration — is ongoing.

From the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway to the Sokoto–Badagry Superhighway, from our railways to our ports and our power sector, Nigeria is being rebuilt — zone by zone, kilometre by kilometre.

THE AKKK CORRIDOR: PIPING GAS AND PROSPERITY TO THE HEART OF THE NORTH-WEST

The Ajaokuta-Kano–Kaduna–Katsina Gas Pipeline Project— the corridor we proudly call the KKK — is far more than a line on a map; it is the economic backbone of the North-West, and at its heart lies an energy revolution. For decades, that road was a tale of dust, delay, and danger — a critical artery linking three of our most important commercial cities, yet left to decay while goods perished, journeys took hours that should take minutes, and industries throttled by energy scarcity slowly died. Today, under the Renewed Hope Agenda, the dualisation of the KKK corridor is under active construction — and running alongside it is the gas agenda that will bring this region fully to life.

The Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano Katsina gas pipeline will deliver natural gas — the cheapest, cleanest industrial fuel we have — to power stations, factories, and homes along this very axis, while CNG conversion and refueling infrastructure is being rolled out so that the trucks, buses, and taxis that will ply this corridor can run on gas at a fraction of the cost of petrol. Think of what this means: the textile mills of Kaduna, the manufacturing hubs of Kano, and the trade gateways of Katsina will once again hum with affordable gas power; the cost of moving goods along the corridor will fall sharply; and the ordinary commuter will feel the relief every single day. A road carries vehicles — but a road powered by gas carries an economy.

This is what we mean when we say no serious government abandons what it has started: the KKK corridor is being built to last, built to connect, and built to energise our people — and our economy — for generations to come.

PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST: THE RENEWED HOPE CONDITIONAL CASH TRANSFER

And this Renewed Hope touches not only concrete and steel, but lives. Under the Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer, over sixty-seven million Nigerians have been reached across the country; more than ten million households have been verified and integrated into the payment system, and over seven million households have received all three tranches of support after full biometric verification.

INVESTING IN OUR FARMERS, SECURING OUR FOOD

Our farmers have not been forgotten: through the National Agricultural Development Fund, more than one hundred and twenty-three thousand farmers have been reached across thirty-three thousand hectares — with women and youth at the heart of every programme.

EDUCATION: NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

Through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, over three hundred and seventy-two billion naira has already been invested in the education of more than one million Nigerian students across three hundred and nineteen institutions — children of the poor who can now stay in school. And for the first time in years, the number of out-of-school children is falling — from twenty million to between eighteen point three and eighteen point five million. We are not there yet, but for the first time, the line is moving in the right direction.

CONSUMER CREDIT: PUTTING DIGNITY WITHIN REACH

Through the Consumer Credit Corporation, over three hundred and fifty thousand Nigerians have accessed more than fifty-three billion naira in affordable credit — more than half of them women — for vehicles, solar power, devices and tools of trade.

THE CNG REVOLUTION: RELIEF AT THE PUMP

And through the CNG revolution, about one hundred and twenty thousand vehicles have already been converted, cutting fuel costs by more than half for ordinary commuters and transport operators.

APPOINTMENT AND INCLUSION OF WOMEN IN THIS ADMINISTRATION

And to our women — the backbone of our families, our communities, our party and every successful campaign — your strength built this party, and your strength will help secure this victory.

Mr President, if we want to measure a government’s commitment to women, we should not look only at what it says; we should look at who it gives the opportunity to lead.

Since May 2023, eight women have been appointed as Ministers. Forty-three women have been appointed as Presidential Advisers and Assistants, serving in different capacities. And more than thirty-seven women have been appointed as Chief Executives, Directors-General and Managing Directors of major federal agencies, with women from all six geopolitical zones taking up positions of real responsibility and authority.

Look at what these numbers tell us. Women are not being included at the margins. They are being brought into the centre of government — into the Cabinet, into the Presidency, and into the leadership of major national institutions. They are participating in decisions, shaping policy and managing institutions that affect the lives of millions of Nigerians.

And when a government consistently opens the highest levels of national leadership to women — across regions, across institutions and across responsibilities — that is no longer just a promise of inclusion. It is a record of inclusion.

That is why we can confidently say that this is the most gender-friendly administration in the history of our nation.

Mr President, you have not only spoken about giving women a greater role in Nigeria’s future; you have demonstrated it through appointments, through trust and through responsibility. We hear our women. We value their contributions. We recognise their leadership. And we will continue to open the doors wider, so that more Nigerian women can lead, serve and help shape the Nigeria we all desire.

THE CASE FOR CONTINUITY: FINISH WHAT WE HAVE STARTED

No serious government starts a project and abandons it halfway. What has been started must be completed and built upon. Nigeria has made progress, and the foundations for further development are already being laid. Now is the time to consolidate those gains and take the country to the next level.

That is why Nigerians gave Your Excellency the mandate for a first term, and, by the grace of God, they will renew that mandate for a second term — so that the work already started can be completed, strengthened and taken to an even higher level.

MY THREE COMMITMENTS AS DIRECTOR-GENERAL

As Director-General, let me set out three commitments on behalf of this Council.

Firstly, unity: This Council brings together people from every zone, every faith, every background of our federation. We may differ in many things, but we are one in purpose: to secure the mandate of our President and the future of our people. I will work day and night to keep this house united, because a divided campaign cannot win a united people.

Secondly, discipline: We will run a campaign that is organised, accountable, and clean. Every resource will be used wisely. Every member will have a clear role. We will take nothing for granted, and we will take no voter for granted — from Sokoto to Bayelsa, from Lagos to Maiduguri. Every single vote must be earned.

Thirdly, message: Our message is simple and it is true — continuity with results. We will not campaign with insults. We will not campaign with fear. We will campaign with our record — the reforms I have outlined today: the ended subsidy and the rebuilt reserves; the historic revenues and the unified naira; the roads, the rails and the refineries; the cash transfers, the student loans, the consumer credit and the CNG conversions; and the women leading at the heart of this administration.

And we will campaign with our plans — for jobs, for food on every table, for safety in every community. We will carry that message to every ward, every town, every village and up to the polling booth. We will shake hands, we will sit with our people, we will listen before we speak. Because a campaign that does not listen cannot lead.

A WORD TO OUR YOUTH

My brothers and sisters, let me speak directly to the young people of Nigeria. You are not the leaders of tomorrow. You are the energy of today. This campaign belongs to you. Bring your voices, your ideas, your phones, and your passion. The Renewed Hope Agenda is for your future — and we will give you a seat at the table.

WHY WE ARE CONFIDENT

Some people ask me: “Director-General, are you confident?” Let me answer with humility. I am confident — not because victory is cheap, but because our cause is just. I am confident because our candidate has been tested and has not been found wanting. I am confident because the record speaks, and the record will speak louder than any opponent. And I am confident because of the men and women gathered in this hall today — the finest campaign team the APC has ever assembled, led by a Chairman who knows how to win and how to lead.

THE WORK BEGINS TODAY

But confidence alone does not win elections. Work wins elections. Organised, humble, door-to-door, vote-by-vote work. So as we leave this hall today, let us leave with rolled-up sleeves. Let us go back to our states, our local governments, and all eight thousand, eight hundred and nine wards, and one hundred and seventy-six thousand, eight hundred and forty-six polling units of this federation with one resolve: no stone unturned, no voter ignored, no day wasted.

The road will not be easy. There will be long nights and hard days. But we did not come this far to stop now. We will fight a good fight. We will finish the race. And by the grace of God and the will of the Nigerian people, on the 16th of January 2027, the APC will win, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be re-elected, and together we will finish the work we began.

Your Excellency, Mr President, on behalf of the entire Presidential Campaign Council, we sincerely thank you for the confidence you have reposed in us through this appointment. We are honoured to accept this responsibility and assure you of our full commitment, loyalty and dedication to the task ahead. In Shaa Allah, we will work together to justify your confidence in us, deliver on this mandate and not fail you.

May God bless the All Progressives Congress.

May God bless this Campaign Council.

May God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Thank you, and let the work begin.