‘Tinubu backed Buhari, North must reciprocate’ — Yari

LAGOS — Director-General of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Presidential Campaign Council, PCC, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, has urged Nigerians in the North to support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027, saying the president stood by former President Muhammadu Buhari when it was the North’s turn to lead.

Yari made the call on Monday when he led members of the PCC to the palace of the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, in Lagos.

The former Zamfara governor said Tinubu had resisted pressure to contest the 2019 presidential election when Buhari was seeking a second term, insisting that power should remain in the North.

He argued that the gesture created an obligation for northern political stakeholders to reciprocate by supporting Tinubu’s bid for a second term.

“For us in the north, I think it is time for us to pay Tinubu back for allowing the north to complete its full term,” Yari said.

He recalled that some members of the APC had attempted to persuade Tinubu to contest the presidency in 2019.

“I remember there was a struggle by some power-mongering bloc within the APC that tried to convince Tinubu to contest the presidential election in 2019. He resisted the pressure and said it was the turn of the north.

“Tinubu said as long as Buhari can come out and ask people to vote for him, he would be with Buhari till the end. And that was what Tinubu truly did,” he said.

Yari said the North therefore had no excuse not to support Tinubu’s re-election bid.

“Today, I don’t think there is an excuse for us from the northern region not to support Tinubu to continue the good job he started and complete his tenure,” he said.

He assured the president of support from the North, saying political leaders in the region who believed in justice and fairness would work to ensure that his administration continued.

“The message from northern Nigeria, where I came from, is that there is nothing to worry about. There are still people of high calibre and character who believe in justice and fairness. We are going to do our best to ensure that Tinubu’s journey continues to the end. He can count on us,” Yari said.

The senator representing Zamfara West also defended the Tinubu administration, saying the president had restructured the country despite inheriting what he described as a challenging situation from previous administrations.

Yari said the PCC was not seeking Tinubu’s re-election merely on the basis of power rotation, but because it believed Nigerians wanted the president to continue in office.

Earlier, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu received the PCC delegation before accompanying its members to the Oba’s palace.

Sanwo-Olu said the decision by the campaign council to engage traditional rulers underscored the importance of traditional institutions in promoting peace, unity and national development.