2027: Tinubu stood by Northern leaders, says Shettima

Vice President Kashim Shettima has urged Northerners to support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027, saying the president has consistently supported Northern political leaders and demonstrated commitment to the region’s development.

Shettima made the appeal on Saturday at the flag-off of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign in Kaduna, where he urged the North to reciprocate Tinubu’s political support over the years.

He cited Tinubu’s backing of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, and the late President Muhammadu Buhari as evidence of his longstanding political relationship with the region.

According to the Vice President, Tinubu provided Atiku with political support and a platform to contest the 2007 presidential election at a time when he faced difficulties within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Shettima also recalled that Tinubu supported Ribadu’s presidential ambition in 2011 and stood behind Buhari during the 2015 and 2019 presidential elections, which culminated in Buhari’s emergence and re-election.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is one person who has quite clearly identified with the North over the years. When former Vice President Atiku Abubakar was harassed and chased out of the PDP, who stood by him? He ran to the man who gave him political succour and support and a platform to contest for the presidency of this country in 2007,” he said.

He added that Tinubu’s support for Northern leaders reflected a record of political solidarity that the region should consider ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

Beyond political alliances, Shettima said the Tinubu administration had demonstrated its commitment to Northern development by sustaining major infrastructure projects, including the Abuja–Kaduna–Kano gas pipeline, Kano–Maradi Railway, Lagos–Kano rail corridor, Abuja–Kaduna–Kano Road and Sokoto–Badagry Highway.

He also highlighted investments in education in Kaduna State, citing the establishment of the Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia, the Federal University of Education, Zaria, and vocational training institutions in Rigachikun, Soba and Samaru Kataf.

The Vice President said the vocational institutions had produced more than 4,000 graduates, while federal student loan interventions had expanded access to higher education for hundreds of thousands of students.

Shettima also commended Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, for promoting peace, unity and inclusive development, saying his administration had helped bridge longstanding ethnic, religious and geographical divisions in the state.

He said the governor’s leadership had strengthened relationships among residents of different communities and ensured that the benefits of democratic governance reached areas beyond metropolitan Kaduna.

“His wisdom has made Kaduna State a place unified, a place where the man from Zonkwa sees the man from Zaria as a brother. A place where the dividends of our democracy are felt in Kachia as they are in metropolitan Kaduna. This is the legacy of the APC in Kaduna State,” Shettima said.

The Vice President maintained that the APC had demonstrated its commitment to Northern Nigeria through investments in infrastructure, education and economic development, urging voters in the region to consider Tinubu’s record of political support and development as they prepare to make their choice in the 2027 presidential election.