Northern Governors, Ministers Rally Behind Tinubu for 2027

Governors from Northern states and senior federal officials gathered in Kaduna on Sunday to mobilise political support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election bid and the second-term ambition of Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The stakeholders’ engagement, held at the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Conference Centre, brought together political actors from the 19 Northern states. It was organised by the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Alhaji Ibrahim Masari, and centred on interaction with delegates of the Northern Nigerian Women Ulama drawn from the region and the Federal Capital Territory.

Among those present were Governors Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe, Mai Mala Buni of Yobe and Babagana Zulum of Borno, alongside host Governor Uba Sani. Also in attendance were the Minister of Defence, Alhaji Bello Matawalle, the Minister of Housing, Engr. Mustapha Rabe Darma, and other senior government officials.

Governor Sani told the gathering that the Women Ulama’s endorsement of Tinubu rested on what they described as tangible achievements in education, infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture and skills development rather than ethnic or regional sentiment. He described the President as detribalised and committed to equitable national development.
Sani placed particular emphasis on education interventions. He said data from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) and the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme showed Northern Nigeria accounting for more than 60 per cent of benefits. He argued this reflected a deliberate focus on closing the region’s long-standing education deficit through both conventional schooling and skills acquisition.

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“The North has benefited under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu more than any leader in the history of Nigeria. We have the data and the statistics and we can prove it any day, anytime,” Sani declared. He urged the delegates to carry the message of support to communities, wards and local government areas across the 19 Northern states.

The governor also rejected attempts to frame the 2027 contest primarily along North-South lines, describing such politics as outdated. He noted that some figures now promoting regional narratives had previously held high offices yet delivered less to the region than the current administration.

The Kaduna meeting forms part of a broader pattern of Northern political realignment in recent months. The North-West zone of the All Progressives Congress recently endorsed Tinubu after a stakeholders’ meeting in the same city that included governors, National Assembly leaders and party officials. Separate groups, including Northern Muslim intellectual forums and the Igbo Political Movement in the 19 Northern states and FCT, have also publicly backed the President’s second-term bid, citing security improvements, infrastructure projects and increased federal representation.

Supporters of the administration point to ongoing road and rail works, agricultural interventions and the student loan scheme as evidence of prioritisation of the region.

Independent reports indicate Northern students have formed a substantial share of NELFUND beneficiaries since the programme’s launch. Critics, however, continue to question the depth and sustainability of these gains amid persistent economic pressures and residual insecurity in parts of the North-West and North-East.

The Sunday gathering closed with calls for intensified grassroots mobilisation involving governors, federal appointees, traditional and religious leaders, and community stakeholders. Organisers framed the effort as essential to consolidating the Renewed Hope Agenda beyond 2027 and ensuring the administration’s record is communicated directly to voters across Northern Nigeria.