Sen. Abdulaziz Yari, Director-General of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, said that President Bola Tinubu supported Atiku Abubakar’s presidential candidature during the 2007 general elections.
He also challenged presidential candidates from the north to name any candidate they supported to become even a councillor in southern Nigeria.
Atiku is contesting the 2027 presidential election on the platform of the African Democratic Party (ADC).
Yari stated this while addressing supporters at the APC presidential rally in Dutse on Tuesday.
He said none of the northern candidates had done for Nigeria, particularly the north, what Tinubu has done.
“I challenge all those contesting for the presidency from the north to show just one person they supported to become even a councillor in the southern part of the country,” he said.
Yari said Tinubu had supported northern politicians to pursue presidential ambitions, including the late President Muhammadu Buhari, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
“Tinubu supported the late Muhammadu Buhari to become president of Nigeria. He also helped Atiku Abubakar and Nuhu Ribadu to contest for the presidency,” he said.
Yari said Tinubu had also undertaken significant projects in the north for his concern for the region and its people.
“As northerners familiar with the region and its needs, we could attest to the support Tinubu had given the area,” Yari said.
Yari, a former governor of Zamfara State, said the turnout at rallies in Kaduna and Jigawa had convinced him that northern voters would vote for Tinubu 2027.
He said that Gov. Umar Namadi had assured that Jigawa would deliver two million votes for Tinubu.
“People of Jigawa, you have heard what your governor said. It is now your turn to ensure that you help him fulfil that promise,” Yari said.
Vice-President Kashim Shettima said that major politicians in the state, including former Gov. Sule Lamido, are with President Bola Tinubu.
He said Jigawa was committed to Tinubu, expressing confidence that the state would support the president in the 2027 general elections.
“Ali Sa’adu Birnin Kudu is with Tinubu, Sen. Ibrahim Turaki is with Tinubu, Mohammed Badaru is with Tinubu, even my friend Sule Lamido is ours,” he said.
The vice-president urged residents of the state to vote for Tinubu for a second term in the forthcoming elections.
At the rally, Tinubu remotely commissioned four projects executed by the Jigawa government due to limited time for his visit.
The projects included the Renewed Hope Technical Services, Bola Ahmed Tinubu Multipurpose Skill Acquisition Centre, agricultural machineries and the dualised Garu Road.
Also, Namadi said the state had acquired 400 tractors, 60 combine harvesters, and other agricultural machineries.
Namadi said the four projects were selected for commissioning in view of their locations in the Dutse metropolis, allowing the president to commission them during his visit.
“We have many more projects, but we know the president’s time is quite brief. We therefore selected these projects because they are within the metropolis and close to one another,” he said.
