Yari rules out insults as ruling party prepares for Kaduna campaign launch
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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has claimed a major political realignment ahead of the 2027 presidential election, with its National Chairman, Nentawe Yilwatda, declaring that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Accord Party are now on President Bola Tinubu’s re-election side.
Yilwatda said the parties, which he described as among those that had defeated the APC in previous elections, were now aligned with the ruling party’s campaign, portraying the development as evidence of expanding political support for Tinubu ahead of the next general election.
The claim came on Tuesday at the State House, Abuja, where Yilwatda and the Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Abdulaziz Yari, met Tinubu to brief him on preparations for the formal flag-off of the ruling party’s nationwide presidential campaign in Kaduna on Saturday, October 24.
Seeking to underscore the scale of the political support he said the President had attracted, the APC chairman declared that the opposition was increasingly becoming part of the ruling party’s re-election effort.
“If you look at what the party is doing now, the oppositions are with us. All political parties that have defeated us in any election are all with us; PDP is with us, APGA is with us, Accord Party with us,” Yilwatda said.
He identified the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) as the exception among parties he said had previously defeated the APC.
“It shows that the entire Nigerian political cycle is Mr President, and that’s what we’re doing now to ensure that we prepare for this grand flag-off in Kaduna,” he added.
Yilwatda’s assertion, if backed by formal party-level endorsements, would point to a significant shift in the political landscape ahead of the 2027 contest.
Yilwatda said the party had completed arrangements for the Kaduna event, adding that its state structures, committees and members were ready for the commencement of nationwide campaign activities.
“We’ll flag off the campaign on Saturday, 24th of October, and as you can see, we’re together with the DG to brief Mr President on the preparation for the flag-off,” he said.
“For now, everything is set; the preparation is on, the members are motivated, the states, the committees are ready, and everything that is supposed to be done has been done.”
Meanwhile, Yari said the APC would base its campaign on the performance of Tinubu’s administration, pledging to avoid insults and personal attacks against opposition figures.
The former Zamfara State governor said the campaign council would present the government’s record to voters and make the case for continuity rather than engage in name-calling.
“As a council, what we say we are going to do? We are going to do a campaign with the records. A responsible campaign, no insults, no calling of names because there’s no name before us, but we have a record before us to show to Nigerians,” Yari said.
He urged Nigerians to assess the administration’s achievements before deciding whether to grant Tinubu a second term.
“This is what our party did, this is what our government did, so because of that, we are asking, pleading Nigerians to look at this record carefully so that they give us a second chance for continuity,” he added.
The APC has intensified its preparations for the 2027 presidential election following Tinubu’s approval of the campaign timetable, which includes planned visits to states across the federation.
Yari announced the timetable after meeting with the President on October 9, while the Presidential Campaign Council was inaugurated on October 14. Tinubu chairs the council, with Vice-President Kashim Shettima and Yilwatda serving as vice-chairmen, while Yari oversees its day-to-day operations.
The Kaduna flag-off is expected to mark the start of the APC’s nationwide campaign, with the party seeking to translate Yilwatda’s claimed opposition backing into a broader electoral coalition for Tinubu’s re-election.
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