Northern support for Tinubu intact ahead 2027 general elections — Yakasai

The Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Community Engagement in the Northwest, Abdullahi Yakasai has dismissed claims that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is losing support across Northern Nigeria, describing such assertions as politically motivated by opposition parties ahead of the 2027 elections.

Speaking in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Wednesday, Yakasai maintained that the president still enjoys strong backing in the region despite growing criticism from opposition figures.

“For one to say that the political base and the support Mr. President has been having is no more there in the Northwest—I think these are just political negative statements. Honestly, what Mr. President has done, I think the northern part of this country should be happy,” he stated.

Responding to concerns over worsening living conditions, Yakasai argued that President Tinubu has taken key steps to strengthen governance and development at the grassroots level.

“Mr. President has done his part by leveraging this subsidy money to go to the states and the local governments so there will be developmental strides across the three tiers of government. So my saying here is that the President has done his part by making sure state and local governments get enough funding,” he argued.

According to him, many responsibilities tied to citizens’ welfare fall under state and local governments, not solely the federal government.

“If the structures in the local government are working effectively, people will have a lot of jobs to do. Primary health centers and primary/secondary schools are all under the purview of state and local governments. But people always keep putting blame at the center, which is the federal government,” he said.

“Mr. President directed that we should also inspect state projects. It is so surprising that a lot is being done in agriculture and healthcare. We’ve seen roads being constructed to ease traffic. Mr. President distributed 20 trucks of rice across the 36 states of the federation. To make sure he cushions the effect of the hardship on the side of the farmers. If you look at students, we have the Student Loan. It’s a game changer. Thirdly, in the health sector, the President has removed about 75% of the cost of dialysis in teaching hospitals. A whole lot of equipment is there. Mr. President just recently recruited primary health workers to supervise centers across the 774 local governments. Then on the security aspect, we’ve seen how the National Security Advisor and the security architecture were able, between 2023 and now, to free 11,000 people from captivity. That is a huge milestone,” he outlined.