Governors from Northern states and senior members of the Federal Executive Council have gathered in Kaduna to mobilise support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election and the Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The high-powered meeting, which brought together political stakeholders from the 19 Northern states, was held at the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Conference Centre in Kaduna.
Among those in attendance were Governors Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State, Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State, Babagana Zulum of Borno State and host Governor Uba Sani.
The gathering also attracted the Minister of Defence, Alhaji Bello Matawalle; Minister of Housing, Engr. Mustapha Rabe Darma; and other senior government officials.
It was organised by the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Alhaji Ibrahim Masari, as part of a stakeholders’ engagement with delegates of the Northern Nigerian Women Ulama from the 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Speaking at the event, Sani said the gathering demonstrated what he described as growing support for the Tinubu administration across the region.
He said the Northern Women Ulama, who represent millions of women across the North, had endorsed Tinubu for a second term based on the administration’s achievements 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 praised what he described as Tinubu’s inclusive approach to governance, saying the administration had demonstrated fairness in the distribution of development projects and opportunities across the country.
Sani identified education as one of the key areas requiring urgent intervention in Northern Nigeria, given the region’s educational development gap.
He said the Tinubu administration had invested in conventional education as well as skills acquisition through Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
According to the governor, data from NELFUND and TVET showed that Northern Nigeria had benefited significantly from 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.
“That is simply because President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is detribalised. He is someone who believes in one Nigeria without discrimination,” he said.
Sani urged the stakeholders to take their message of support for Tinubu to communities, wards and local government areas across the region.
“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.
The Kaduna governor further claimed that the North had benefited more under Tinubu than under any previous administration, saying the claim could be supported by data and statistics.
“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.
He also criticised attempts to frame the 2027 election along Northern and Southern lines, describing such arguments as outdated and politically unproductive.
Sani urged political stakeholders to focus on development, inclusion and good governance rather than allowing regional sentiments to dominate political discourse ahead of the elections.
He said the gathering underscored the need to build a broad political coalition around the Tinubu administration and ensure that its policies and achievements were communicated directly to citizens across the region.
The event ended with calls for stronger grassroots mobilisation across the Northern states and continued political cooperation among governors, federal officials, traditional and religious leaders and other stakeholders ahead of the 2027 elections.
