Isaac Samuel
President Bola Tinubu on Saturday defended his administration’s economic policies, blamed previous administrations for Nigeria’s hunger and poverty, and asked Nigerians to renew his mandate in 2027 as the All Progressives Congress formally flagged off its presidential campaign in Kaduna.
Addressing party supporters Ranchers Bees Stadium, also known as Kaduna Township Stadium, Tinubu pushed back against opposition criticism of economic hardship, insisting that his government was working to address the challenges confronting Nigerians while promising prosperity, continuity and development if re-elected.
“I have an argument. I hear my opponents talking about hunger and poverty. Who created it? They did! They created the hunger, they created the poverty. We are trying to eradicate it,” the president said.
The rally marked the beginning of the APC’s nationwide mobilisation for the 2027 presidential election.
It brought together APC governors, ministers, senators, members of the House of Representatives, party officials and supporters from different parts of the country.
Tinubu arrived in Kaduna and was received by Shettima, Kaduna governor, Uba Sani and other party leaders. The Kaduna Township Stadium hosted the flag-off, while campaign banners, flags and other party materials bearing the images of Tinubu, Shettima and Sani were displayed by supporters.
The event followed days of preparations and increased campaign activity across Kaduna metropolis.
Security personnel were deployed to strategic locations ahead of the gathering, according to reports published before the rally.
The choice of Kaduna carried political significance for the APC.
In the 2023 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party defeated Tinubu in Kaduna State, making the state an important battleground as the ruling party seeks to expand its support in the North-West.
The campaign also comes against a backdrop of continuing public concerns about economic hardship, insecurity and unemployment.
Tinubu thanked Kaduna residents for their support during the 2023 presidential election, saying their votes contributed to his emergence as president. He asked them to give him another opportunity to sustain his administration’s programmes.
“You gave me joy to remember the victory you gave me to become president. I come again to thank you,” he said.
The president also defended his administration’s record on salary payments, praising APC governors for their performance and describing them as partners in development.
“We pay salaries regularly. Our governors are working. I am proud of them. They are developing,” he said.
On the contentious removal of the petrol subsidy, Tinubu urged voters to reject what he described as misleading claims by political opponents. He argued that the policy had brought an end to the corruption, falsified invoices and fuel smuggling associated with the previous subsidy regime.
“Be careful; watch them. Don’t let them lie to you. What is past is in the past. Fuel subsidy is in our past: no more corruption, no more falsification of invoices, no more lies, no more smuggling of fuel,” he said.
Tinubu also addressed Nigerian children at the rally, promising that a second term would offer prosperity and a better future.
He urged supporters to participate in the electoral process and expressed confidence that voters would not regret returning him to office.
On his part, Shettima made a strong appeal to northern voters, arguing that Tinubu had consistently supported political leaders from the region and deserved their backing in the 2027 election.
He cited Tinubu’s political relationships with former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, former presidential candidate Nuhu Ribadu and the late President Muhammadu Buhari as examples of his longstanding engagement with northern political interests.
Shettima recalled Tinubu’s support for Atiku during the political realignments surrounding the 2007 election, Ribadu’s presidential bid in 2011 and Buhari’s presidential campaigns in 2015 and 2019. He argued that the North should consider that history when deciding whom to support in the next election.
The vice-president’s message was that the region should reciprocate Tinubu’s political support rather than make its decision solely on the basis of regional identity or the emergence of another northern presidential candidate.
Shettima also defended the administration’s record in Kaduna, highlighting federal investments in education, vocational training and infrastructure.
He cited the Federal University of Applied Sciences in Kachia, the Federal University of Education in Zaria and vocational institutes in Rigachikun, Soba and Samaru as examples of interventions intended to strengthen Kaduna’s position as a centre of learning.
According to Shettima, more than 4,000 people had graduated from the vocational institutions.
He highlighted the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, which provides financial support to eligible students in tertiary institutions.
On infrastructure, he listed the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline, the Kano-Maradi railway, the Lagos-Kano rail corridor and the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road among projects he said demonstrated the administration’s commitment to development in the North.
Shettima urged supporters to assess the APC on its record and give the administration another mandate to continue its programmes.
Governor Uba Sani urged northern voters to assess Tinubu’s performance on infrastructure, security, education and human capital development rather than support candidates simply because they come from the region.
The governor recalled Tinubu’s campaign visit to Birnin Gwari, Kaduna State, on December 22, 2022, when insecurity was a major concern in the area. According to Sani, Tinubu had promised during the visit to reconstruct the Kaduna-Birnin Gwari road and tackle insecurity along the corridor.
Sani said the Federal Government had released N178 billion for the 123-kilometre road project, which he described as ongoing. He also claimed that the security situation had improved sufficiently to make travel to Birnin Gwari possible without a police escort.
The governor said eight local government areas in Kaduna had been affected by insecurity when he assumed office in 2023, leaving more than 300 schools and 150 primary healthcare centres shut.
“Today, I’m happy to inform you that all the schools and primary healthcare centres have reopened,” he said.
Sani also cited the Zaria-Funtua road and the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road reconstruction as important federal interventions in Kaduna and the wider North.
He said the Federal Government had committed N740 billion to the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road project, which he put at about 95 per cent completion. These figures were claims made by the governor at the rally and require independent confirmation against official project records.
On urban transport, Sani said Kaduna had been selected as the pilot state for a metropolitan rail project, with $865 million approved and $300 million reportedly released.
The governor also highlighted education and skills-development initiatives. He said the North-West had received N84 billion under the student loan programme, benefiting about 414,000 students, while 34,000 people in the region had benefited from the technical and vocational education and training programme.
Sani argued that the interventions were particularly important in a region where agriculture remains a major source of livelihoods and young people need opportunities to acquire marketable skills.
He challenged opposition politicians to present their own records of infrastructure delivery and development in the North.
“When someone came to us and said we should support him simply because he is a northerner, we asked him: can you show us your track record?” he said.
The governor added: “But at this moment, the so-called northern candidate, what is his track record? No track record.”
Sani also warned APC supporters about the use of artificial intelligence in political campaigns, saying the opposition had moved beyond traditional social media messaging.
“The opposition have now upgraded their campaign from Facebook and Twitter to AI,” he said, urging party members to remain vigilant against manipulated content.
Senator Abdul’aziz Yari, director-general of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, urged Nigerians to support Tinubu’s re-election, arguing that victory in a presidential election required a broad national coalition rather than dominance in only one part of the country.
Yari had earlier announced that the APC would begin its presidential campaign in Kaduna on October 24, with subsequent rallies planned in other states.
In his pre-rally remarks, he argued that neither the North nor the South could secure the presidency without sufficient support from the other region.
His position reflected the APC’s effort to consolidate its support in the North-West while maintaining its national political coalition ahead of the 2027 polls.
The campaign council had announced a series of subsequent rallies, including planned events in Rivers, Plateau, Oyo, Borno, Enugu and Bauchi states.
Separately, the APC Presidential Campaign Council accused Atiku Abubakar and the African Democratic Congress of allegedly seeking to discredit the Kaduna rally through manipulated photographs, fabricated documents and AI-generated videos.
In a statement signed by Dele Alake, spokesperson for the campaign council, the APC alleged that online material included a purported letter claiming that the Kaduna State Government had released N2.3 trillion to host the rally. The party described the claim as fabricated and said the figure exceeded Kaduna State’s combined budgets for 2024, 2025 and 2026.
The council also alleged that doctored images and videos could be circulated to create a misleading impression of public opposition to the rally.
These allegations were made by the APC and should not be treated as independently established facts. The available report did not provide independent evidence substantiating all the accusations against Atiku or the ADC.
