All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, has warned voters in Northern Nigeria that victory for opposition presidential candidates Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi in the 2027 election could return the region to widespread poverty.
He said proposals by opposition politicians to reverse some of President Bola Tinubu’s reforms, particularly the removal of fuel subsidy, would deprive the North of funds for infrastructure, agriculture and education.
Yilwatda also accused the opposition of using regional media, particularly Hausa-language radio programmes, to misrepresent the administration’s policies and performance.
The APC helmsman spoke yesterday in Abuja while addressing State House of Assembly candidates who defected from the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to the APC from Jigawa, Plateau, Taraba and Zamfara states.
‘The opposition, especially the ADC, has been painting stories of what does not exist,’ Yilwatda said, citing claims that Tinubu had neglected the North.
The APC chairman said ongoing federal road projects across the region demonstrated the administration’s commitment to northern development. He listed the Abuja-Kano and Kano-Maiduguri roads, as well as projects covering Abuja-Lokoja-Benue, Akwanga-Jos, Kwara-Mokwa, Sokoto-Kebbi, Kano-Daura and Zaria-Danja.
He questioned how the opposition would fund its proposed return to fuel subsidy while sustaining such projects.
‘The same thing they keep saying on the radio is that they will return the subsidy. I keep asking, how are they going to return the subsidy? You mean they will stop all this road construction because they want to return the subsidy?’ Yilwatda asked.
He also linked increased federal allocations to improved finances of northern states, recalling that many states struggled to pay salaries and gratuities before Tinubu assumed office.
‘I can also assure you that among the about 30 states that could not pay salaries in Nigeria, all the states in the North, none could pay salaries as of 2023 when President Tinubu took over,’ he said.
Yilwatda urged the defectors and APC members to intensify mobilisation for Tinubu’s re-election.
APC women mobilise in Ondo
In Ondo, APC National Women Leader, Dr Mary Alile Idele, called for the re-election of Tinubu, declaring that the President should complete two terms before power is handed over to another region.
Idele spoke in Akure during the inauguration of the Tinubu Torch Bearers structure in Ondo State.
She said the group was expanding its grassroots mobilisation network across the country and urged women to take the administration’s message to their homes and communities.
‘Four+four is equal to eight,’ she said, reiterating the APC’s ‘no vacancy’ position ahead of the 2027 election.
Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, represented by his deputy, Dr Olayide Adelami, said Ondo was targeting more than one million votes for Tinubu.
He urged women, youths and other residents to participate in grassroots mobilisation and take the administration’s programmes to communities across the state.
Imo APC seeks monarchs’ support
Also yesterday, APC leaders in Owerri Zone, Imo State, sought the support of traditional rulers in the nine local government areas of the zone for Tinubu and the party ahead of the 2027 elections.
The leaders also canvassed support for the zone’s bid to produce the next governor of the state.
Owerri Zone APC Chairman, Chief Justus Ogu, urged the monarchs to take the party’s message to their communities and encourage residents to vote for the APC.
The party’s Apex Leader in the zone, Prince Lemmy Akakem, said the zone needed to demonstrate its electoral strength in 2027 to strengthen its position in negotiations over the governorship.
Senator Ezenwa Onyewuchi said political interests were advanced through negotiation and alliances, while former Deputy Governor Prof. Placid Njoku urged the monarchs to mobilise women, youths and other residents.
Chairman of the Owerri Zone Council of Traditional Rulers, Eze Fred Nwachukwu, expressed support for the zone’s governorship aspiration.