Vice President Kashim Shettima has urged voters in Northern Nigeria to support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027, saying the region should reciprocate the President’s past support for northern political leaders.
Shettima made the appeal on Saturday at the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign flag-off in Kaduna State.
He recalled Tinubu’s political support for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former President Muhammadu Buhari and former presidential candidate Nuhu Ribadu, arguing that the President had consistently supported northern politicians.
According to Shettima, Tinubu provided Atiku with a political platform to contest the 2007 presidential election after his departure from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He also cited Tinubu’s support for Ribadu in 2011 and Buhari during the 2015 and 2019 presidential elections.
The Vice President said the North should consider the President’s political relationships with its leaders when deciding whom to support in the 2027 election.
“And you can bear witness that in 2015 and 2019, President Tinubu stood solidly behind the late President Muhammadu Buhari throughout his first and second-term victories. This is a mark of honour and our faith in a man of honour,” Shettima said.
He urged voters to support the APC at all levels in the forthcoming elections.
“We have come to ask you to renew a second time for the APC from top to bottom,” he added.
Shettima also defended the Tinubu administration’s performance, citing projects in education, transportation and energy as evidence of its efforts to develop Northern Nigeria.
In Kaduna State, he highlighted the establishment of the Federal University of Applied Sciences in Kachia and the transition of the institution in Zaria to the Federal University of Education.
He also mentioned vocational training initiatives in Rigachikun and progress on major infrastructure projects, including the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline, the Lagos-Kano rail corridor and the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road.
The Vice President further cited the Sokoto-Badagry highway, saying the project would improve access to agricultural communities and create opportunities for economic activities.
Shettima urged northern voters to consider the administration’s policies and projects as they prepare to decide the country’s leadership in 2027.
