Shettima urges northern support for Tinubu’s 2027 bid

Vice President Kashim Shettima urged northern leaders and citizens to support President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid, saying the region had benefited from his administration and would gain further if he returned to office. Shettima made the appeal Monday, October 12, at a meeting in Abuja with a delegation from Arewa for Asiwaju, a group campaigning for Tinubu’s re-election. He called for northern leaders to unite behind the president and said the administration remained committed to the region’s development. Shettima cited appointments, projects and programmes as evidence of that commitment. He also said the Bank of Agriculture had disbursed N450 billion to 700,000 smallholder farmers, about 70 percent of whom were in the North. The figures were presented by Shettima; the reports provided no underlying bank records. The meeting also outlined the group’s plans for grassroots campaigning. Arewa for Asiwaju Director-General Abubakar Badaru said it intended to engage Muslim and Christian religious leaders and other prominent Nigerians, while supporting the presidential campaign council with local-level mobilisation.