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| Vice President — Kashim Shettima |
Vice-President Kashim Shettima has delivered a pointed message to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and northern political stakeholders: growing support for President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid in northern Nigeria must not be treated as an unconditional endorsement. Speaking on Saturday, October 17, 2026, in Abuja at the unveiling of the Arewa for Asiwaju (A4A) campaign headquarters and the inauguration of its northern campaign structure, Shettima insisted that the administration must earn a renewed mandate through transparency, accountability, measurable results, and honest engagement with citizens facing real hardships.
The event, held in Garki’s Area 11, brought together a cross-section of northern political heavyweights—serving and former governors, National Assembly members, ministers, presidential aides, and traditional influencers—signaling an early and deliberate consolidation of the region’s electoral weight. A4A, a mobilisation platform spanning the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory, is chaired on its Board of Trustees by former Kano Governor Ibrahim Shekarau, with former Jigawa Governor Abubakar Badaru serving as Director-General. The group’s new secretariat, a multi-block complex with offices and a situation room, underscores the seriousness of the effort more than a year before the polls.
The North Has Spoken—But the Obligation Cuts Both Ways
Shettima framed the gathering as evidence that “the North has spoken” with a “resounding voice and unmistakable conviction.” He referenced support stretching “from Adamawa to Zamfara, from Borno to Niger, from Benue to Sokoto.” In 2023, the region delivered about 60.2 percent of Tinubu’s votes, a decisive contribution that helped secure the presidency despite competition from northern-origin candidates. Shettima expressed confidence that the North would deliver even more in 2027, yet he immediately paired that optimism with a warning.
“Such confidence places an obligation upon us that no officeholder should ever underestimate,” he said.
“The mandate belongs to the people. We must account for its use and explain how another term would advance their interests.” Northerners, he stressed, have “nothing to fear” from a second Tinubu term, pointing to the president’s focus on the region—including an upcoming agricultural meeting Shettima himself was mandated to chair, whose primary beneficiaries would be northern farmers. Yet the vice-president rejected any notion of automatic loyalty.
This dual message—affirmation of support coupled with a demand for performance—reflects the political realities of a region that remains Nigeria’s largest voting bloc but continues to grapple with insecurity, poverty, and the uneven impacts of economic reform. Tinubu’s administration has pursued bold structural changes under the Renewed Hope Agenda, including the removal of fuel subsidies and foreign-exchange unification.
Officials cite stabilisation: foreign reserves rising toward $58–59 billion from far lower levels at the start of the tenure, and the clearing of large Ways and Means obligations. Critics and ordinary citizens, however, point to persistent inflation, higher living costs, and pressure on household budgets.
Shettima did not paper over those difficulties. “Our citizens have endured difficult adjustments. We cannot pretend otherwise,” he stated. “What we owe them is an honest account of the decisions taken, the gains achieved and the difficulties that persist.
We lose our hearing when applause becomes our only source of information.” He urged campaigners to listen to traders facing higher costs, graduates searching for work, and families struggling with daily expenses. “A failed policy enters somebody’s home as a missed meal, an unpaid school fee or an opportunity lost.”
Criticism as Democratic Necessity, Not Nuisance
In a notable departure from typical campaign rhetoric, Shettima defended the role of critics. “There is no democracy without critics. Progress demands that our assumptions endure the examination of those who disagree with us,” he said.
He called on A4A to function as more than a vote-harvesting machine: it should serve as a conduit for community complaints to reach decision-makers. “A complaint should travel from a community to those who can act upon it. The people who speak through this organisation deserve to know that somebody is listening.”
He listed core priorities that must define the administration’s record: security so farmers can cultivate safely; education that prepares children for productive lives; economic opportunities and poverty reduction; and public institutions that restore citizens’ confidence that effort can yield results. Governance, he reminded the audience, does not pause for electioneering. “Even as elections impose a deadline upon persuasion, public service imposes no deadline upon our duty.”
Shettima also highlighted an internal risk that, in his view, outweighs external threats. He said he feared “internal contradictions within our household” more than the Peoples Democratic Party or a “diminished Peter Obi.” Unity within the APC, he argued, would be decisive. The remark landed amid reports of political realignments and defections in states such as Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, and Benue, which the vice-president portrayed as expanding the party’s reach.
Party Leaders Echo Support While Listing Deliverables
APC National Chairman Nentawe Yilwatda, himself from the North-Central, moved a formal motion calling for northern backing of the Tinubu-Shettima ticket. He cited Shettima’s inclusive leadership across religious and ethnic lines, major infrastructure projects (Abuja-Kaduna-Kano highway, sections of the Trans-Saharan Super Highway, Kano-Maiduguri corridor, and others totaling hundreds of kilometres), the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline, irrigation schemes, railway development, healthcare interventions, and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund. Yilwatda predicted the North could deliver more than 70 percent of its votes if mobilised effectively at the polling-unit level.
Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin described the A4A structure as timely, providing a trusted platform to communicate the administration’s achievements.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume urged the region to base its 2027 decision on evidence and performance rather than sentiment, while also calling for the North’s influence to promote national unity. Northern governors, represented in remarks by figures including Kano’s Abba Kabir Yusuf and Kaduna’s Uba Sani, pledged support grounded in the administration’s record and broader commitments to fairness, equity, and continuity of power-sharing understandings between North and South. Badaru, as A4A Director-General, said the group was formed from conviction that Tinubu and Shettima had performed sufficiently to deserve another term and pledged grassroots outreach across wards and communities.
Early Mobilisation in a High-Stakes Region
The A4A launch comes against the backdrop of Nigeria’s complex electoral arithmetic. The North’s demographic weight has long made it pivotal; Tinubu’s 2023 victory depended heavily on it despite his southwestern origins. Shettima, a former Borno governor who confronted the Boko Haram insurgency, remains a key bridge to the region.
Earlier engagements in October, including meetings with northern support groups, had already seen him assure stakeholders of further benefits in agriculture, appointments, and projects.
Yet the economic adjustments remain politically sensitive. Subsidy removal and naira flotation were designed to address fiscal imbalances and distortions, but they have translated into higher transport and food costs for many households—the very “missed meals” Shettima referenced. Security challenges, particularly banditry and residual insurgency in parts of the North-West and North-East, continue to disrupt farming and commerce, the backbone of the regional economy. Delivery on these fronts will likely determine whether expressions of support translate into votes.
Shettima’s speech stands out for its blend of confidence and caution. By rejecting the “blank cheque” framing, he seeks to inoculate the campaign against complacency and to position the administration as responsive rather than entitled.
Whether this approach resonates will depend on tangible improvements in livelihoods and security between now and 2027. For northern voters, the message is clear: political goodwill is real, but it is conditional on results that citizens can feel in their daily lives. For the APC, the task is to turn early organisational momentum into sustained performance and credible communication—exactly the standard Shettima set on Saturday.
Samuel O. Sulaimon is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Naijapiz. He covers News, Sports, Finance, Faiths, Education, Politics and Technology.
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