KADUNA: President Bola Tinubu formally launched his campaign for a second term on Saturday in the northern city of Kaduna, where he sought to convince voters that painful economic reforms are beginning to pay off despite a lingering cost-of-living crisis.
Tinubu, 74, faces a contest ahead of a Jan 16 election that is likely to be dominated by the economy and security. His main challengers include former vice-president Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, who finished second and third respectively in 2023.
By midday, thousands of supporters of the president's All Progressives Congress party had filled much of the 10,000-capacity Ranchers Bees Stadium, with more arriving as the rally got underway.
"Thank you for this massive showing up. It is a promise. Come 2027, January 16, you must go out massively and elect me again," Tinubu told the crowd.
Opposition accused of causing problems
Since taking office in 2023, Tinubu has scrapped fuel subsidies, devalued the naira and introduced other reforms credited with improving public finances, foreign reserves and investor sentiment. But the measures have also fuelled Nigeria's worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.
Petrol prices rose to about 1,400 naira (US$1.05) a litre in Lagos and Abuja in September and as much as 1,500 naira in parts of northern Nigeria, adding to pressure on household budgets.
Tinubu dismissed opposition complaints about hunger and poverty, arguing that his rivals created those problems.
"They created the hunger. They created the poverty. We are trying to eradicate it."
Phrank Shaibu, a spokesman for the Atiku campaign, told Reuters the president was attempting to dodge responsibility.
"Mr President, blaming the opposition for hunger is either delusion or a staggering case of political amnesia," he said.
Security will provide another test. Nigeria continues to battle armed bandits and kidnappers in the northwest and a 17-year Islamist insurgency in the northeast, where militants have stepped up attacks on military positions.
Tinubu nevertheless enters the race with a formidable political machine. His camp says he has the backing of 32 of Nigeria's 36 state governors, potentially giving him an unprecedented organisational advantage, although past elections have shown governors cannot always deliver their states to presidential candidates.
His toughest electoral test could come in the north, where Atiku, a veteran northern politician with an established support base, will seek to erode the president's vote.
Tinubu has said he will not attend campaign rallies in all 36 states as he needs to remain focused on governing. The party's proposed timetable has him personally attending rallies in 12 states, culminating in a major closing rally in his home state of Lagos on Jan 9.