Northern governors and senior members of the Federal Executive Council have intensified mobilisation for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election, with political stakeholders from the 19 Northern states and the Federal Capital Territory converging on Kaduna.
The stakeholders’ meeting, held on Sunday at the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Conference Centre, brought together governors, federal ministers and members of the Northern Nigerian Women Ulama as part of efforts to consolidate support for the Tinubu administration ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Those in attendance included Gombe State Governor Inuwa Yahaya, Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni, Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum and host governor, Uba Sani of Kaduna State.
Also present were the Minister of Defence, Bello Matawalle, and the Minister of Housing, Mustapha Rabe Darma.
The meeting was organised by the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Ibrahim Masari.
Addressing the gathering, Sani said the event demonstrated what he described as increasing support for Tinubu across the North.
According to him, the Northern Nigerian Women Ulama, whom he described as representing millions of women in the region, had endorsed Tinubu for a second term because of his administration’s performance in education, infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture and skills development.
“They are not endorsing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu based on sentiments or some selfish reasons. It is simply because of what he has done for Nigeria and for Northern Nigeria in particular,” Sani said.
The governor also highlighted education as a key priority for the North, noting that sustained investment was required to bridge the region’s educational development gap.
He said the Federal Government had expanded its interventions through Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
Sani claimed that data from the NELFUND and TVET dashboards showed that Northern Nigeria had received more than 60 per cent of the benefits under the programmes.
“As some of them have said here, if you go to the dashboard of NELFUND and TVET, Northern Nigeria has benefited to the tune of over 60 per cent,” he said.
He attributed the reported distribution to Tinubu’s commitment to an inclusive Nigeria, describing the President as “detribalised” and committed to governing without discrimination.
Sani urged the pro-Tinubu stakeholders to move beyond major cities and intensify mobilisation at the grassroots, including wards and local government areas across the 19 Northern states.
“We, as governors who are supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, are here to support them, to motivate them to do more and take their message to all the 19 Northern states, and all our wards and local governments,” he said.
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The Kaduna governor further claimed that the North had benefited more under Tinubu than under any previous Nigerian leader, saying government data could be used to substantiate the claim.
“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,” he said.
However, Sani cautioned political actors against framing the 2027 election as a contest between the North and South.
He described purely regional mobilisation as outdated and urged politicians to focus on development, inclusion and effective governance.
The governor also criticised politicians seeking support through regional sentiments, arguing that some of those making such appeals had previously occupied prominent positions, including the vice presidency, governorships and ministerial offices, without delivering what he considered comparable benefits to the North.
The Kaduna meeting, he said, was therefore significant not only for mobilising support for Tinubu but also for strengthening cooperation among governors, federal officials, religious and traditional leaders and grassroots political stakeholders ahead of the 2027 elections.
The gathering ended with renewed calls for intensified grassroots mobilisation across the Northern states in support of the Tinubu administration.
