Tinubu Begins 2027 Re-Election Campaign in Kaduna as APC Targets Northern Votes

President Bola Tinubu and leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are set to launch the president’s 2027 re-election campaign in Kaduna State on Saturday, as the ruling party intensifies efforts to secure support across northern Nigeria.

 

The North accounts for 56.01 million of Nigeria’s 103.43 million registered voters, making the region a critical battleground in the presidential election. The APC is banking on support from northern political stakeholders and grassroots mobilisation to strengthen Tinubu’s chances of securing a second term.

 

The campaign flag-off is expected to attract 31 state governors and other party chieftains, with the ruling party setting a target of mobilising 40 million votes for Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima.

 

However, opposition figures have dismissed the APC’s optimism, citing economic hardship, rising living costs and persistent insecurity as factors that could undermine the president’s re-election bid.

 

The Kaduna rally carries particular significance because of the North’s electoral strength and Tinubu’s loss in the state during the 2023 presidential election.

 

Former APC National Vice Chairman for the North-East, Salihu Mustapha, said northern political stakeholders and voters were increasingly united behind Tinubu’s re-election bid.

 

Mustapha, who is also associated with Arewa for Asiwaju, attributed the support to political appointments, increased revenue allocations to states, the student loan scheme and government policies on security.

 

“He has done a lot for the North, and you can see it in the political activities in the region. Northern politics is largely based on stakeholder consensus, not just heightened hostility on social media,” he said.

 

Mustapha argued that political decisions in many northern communities were influenced by local leadership structures rather than online campaigns.

 

He added that the administration had made progress in addressing insecurity, although security challenges persisted across parts of the region.

 

According to him, the political situation was different from 2015, when northern political structures played a significant role in the defeat of then-President Goodluck Jonathan.

 

“The North is behind him, and there is no cause for alarm. President Tinubu will not suffer the same fate as Jonathan,” Mustapha said.

 

Similarly, APC chieftain Farouk Aliyu, who heads the Presidential Campaign Council’s Stage Organisation and Management, expressed confidence that Tinubu would win a second term.

 

Aliyu acknowledged that the election would be challenging but said the party would intensify its campaign across the North and other regions.

 

“We will campaign everywhere in the North for the President’s re-election because he deserves another term. The North and even the South will vote for him again,” he said.

 

He added that the APC would explain the rationale behind the administration’s economic reforms and appeal to voters to give the government another term.

 

The APC Presidential Campaign Council’s Co-Chair of the Directorate of Women Mobilisation, Dr Betta Edu, said the country was approaching economic prosperity after what she described as the difficult phase of the administration’s reforms.

 

Edu spoke in Kaduna on Thursday during a courtesy visit to Deputy Governor Hadiza Balarabe, who chairs the state’s campaign flag-off organising committee.

 

“We have gone through the reform phase already. Now it is time for prosperity. We are already at the gate of prosperity once President Tinubu is re-elected,” Edu said.

 

She disclosed that the directorate was targeting approximately 40 million votes for Tinubu and Shettima in the 2027 election.

 

Edu said achieving the target would require sustained grassroots engagement, particularly with women in markets, communities and households, rather than relying solely on large crowds at rallies.

 

She urged party supporters to conduct peaceful door-to-door campaigns and persuade voters without intimidation or coercion.

 

Responding, Balarabe assured the delegation that the state government and the organising committee were working to ensure a successful campaign launch.

 

She said Kaduna’s strategic position in northern Nigeria placed a responsibility on the state to demonstrate its organisational capacity.

 

Meanwhile, Arewa for Asiwaju has set a separate target of mobilising 10,000 supporters from the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory for Saturday’s rally.

 

In a statement on Thursday, the group’s Director-General, Mohammed Badaru, and Head of Media Relations, Edwin Olofu, said the mobilisation was intended to demonstrate the group’s organisational strength and consolidate grassroots support for Tinubu.

 

The camp of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, the African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, has rejected the APC’s confidence, arguing that widespread economic hardship could cost Tinubu the election.

 

Atiku’s Special Adviser on Media, Paul Ibe, said the cost of living affected Nigerians across regional, ethnic and religious divides, making the economy a central issue in the 2027 contest.

 

“There is a consensus on the level of suffering of the Nigerian people. This is not just about the North or the South. This election is a bread-and-butter issue: it is about the economy,” Ibe said.

 

He argued that Nigerians faced similar increases in fuel prices and the cost of goods regardless of their ethnic or religious backgrounds.

 

“Nigerians are feeling the pain, and they have resolved to vote out this government in 2027,” he added.

 

Ibe maintained that the election should not be reduced to a contest between northern and southern political interests, insisting that voters’ economic experiences would shape their decisions at the polls.

 

Oyo State Governor and presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement, Seyi Makinde, has also appealed to Nigerians to allow him to complete what he described as the South’s four-year presidential tenure.

 

Figures from the Independent National Electoral Commission show that Nigeria has 103.43 million registered voters across the 36 states and the FCT.

 

Lagos has the highest number, with 7.49 million, followed by Kano with 6.57 million and Kaduna with 4.66 million. Katsina has 3.88 million registered voters, Rivers 3.74 million, Oyo 3.59 million and Delta 3.53 million.

 

By geopolitical zone, the North-West leads with 25.08 million registered voters, followed by the South-West with 19.61 million and the North-Central with 16.97 million.

 

The South-South has 15.82 million voters, while the North-East and South-East have 13.97 million and 11.98 million, respectively.

 

The three northern zones therefore account for 56.01 million registered voters, representing approximately 54.2 per cent of the national total.

 

The region’s electoral weight was evident in the 2015 presidential election, when Buhari defeated Jonathan after securing substantial support from northern voters.

 

Tinubu’s decision to begin his re-election campaign in Kaduna underscores the importance of the region to the APC’s electoral calculations, particularly given his loss in the state in 2023.

 

Security preparations have intensified ahead of the rally, with personnel from the Nigerian Army, Department of State Services, Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, the state vigilante group and the Federal Road Safety Corps deployed around major roads in Kaduna.

 

Residents of Barnawa in Kaduna South Local Government Area witnessed increased security patrols ahead of the event.

 

The presidential advance team, responsible for security, protocol, medical services and media arrangements, had also been dispatched to Kaduna by Thursday.

 

A source familiar with the arrangements said the team had already departed for the state.

 

“The team have left already. All of them — media, security, protocol, medical and others. It’s a big campaign, so everything needs to be done properly,” the source said.

 

Another official said the APC and its state chapters were handling much of the campaign’s funding and logistics.

 

The Presidential Campaign Council was inaugurated at the State House on October 14, with Tinubu as chairman, Shettima and APC National Chairman Nentawe Yilwatda as vice-chairmen, and Senator Abdulaziz Yari as Director-General.

 

According to the campaign schedule released on October 14, subsequent rallies are planned for Calabar on November 2, Gombe on November 3, Lafia on November 4 and Ado-Ekiti on November 5. Campaign activities are scheduled to continue through January 2027.

 

The Kaduna State Local Organising Committee, chaired by Deputy Governor Balarabe, said it had inspected the Kaduna Flagship Stadium, the venue for the rally. The Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa, also led a security inspection on Wednesday.

 

Meanwhile, the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Pate, has said there is no immediate need to cancel political campaigns, conferences or other large public gatherings following Nigeria’s confirmation of an imported Ebola case.

 

Pate spoke on Thursday in Abuja, assuring Nigerians that the patient was receiving treatment and showing encouraging signs of recovery.

 

He said any decision to restrict public gatherings would depend on scientific evidence and the evolving public health situation.

 

“At this moment, there is no indication that requires us to alter the course of large gatherings that have been planned,” the minister said.

 

“But if the situation changes, we’ll make a determination; we’ll consult broadly with the right experts and make that determination.”

 

Pate also cautioned political leaders against politicising the outbreak, describing public health as an issue that transcends political, religious and ethnic differences.

 

“If there is one issue that will unite Nigerians, it is health, because health has no political party, has no citizenship, has no nationality, has no tribe, no religion. It is a great unifier,” he said.

 

As the APC prepares to launch its campaign in Kaduna, the contest is shaping up around competing claims of political support and economic performance. While the ruling party is counting on northern alliances and grassroots mobilisation, the opposition is betting that public dissatisfaction over living costs and insecurity will influence voters’ choices in 2027.