Abdulaziz Yari, director-general of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council (PCC), says the north has no reason not to back President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid ahead of 2027 polls.

Speaking on Monday in Lagos, when he led members of the PCC to the palace of Rilwan Akiolu, the Oba of Lagos, Yari said Tinubu supported former President Muhammadu Buhari’s emergence and re-election, and that the north should reciprocate by backing the president’s re-election bid.

“For us in the north, I think it is time for us to pay Tinubu back for allowing the north to complete its full term,” Yari said.

“I remember there was a struggle by some power-mongering bloc within the APC that tried to convince Tinubu to contest the presidential election in 2019. He resisted the pressure and said it was the turn of the North.

“Tinubu said as long as Buhari can come out and ask people to vote for him, he would be with Buhari till the end. And that was what Tinubu truly did.”

The former Zamfara governor said there was therefore no reason for northerners not to support Tinubu’s re-election bid.

“Today, I don’t think there is an excuse for us from the northern region not to support Tinubu to continue the good job he started and complete his tenure,” he said.

“The message from northern Nigeria, where I came from, is that there is nothing to worry about. There are still people of high calibre and character who believe in justice and fairness. We are going to do our best to ensure that Tinubu’s journey continues to the end. He can count on us.”

Yari said Tinubu has restructured the country despite inheriting a challenging situation from previous administrations.

The senator representing Zamfara West said the campaign council was not seeking Tinubu’s re-election solely for power rotation, but because it believed Nigerians wanted him to continue in office.

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, who received members of the PCC before accompanying them to the Oba’s palace, said the council’s decision to visit monarchs demonstrated the important role of traditional institutions in promoting peace, unity and national development.

Desmond Elliot, lawmaker representing Surulere Constituency 1 in the Lagos House of Assembly, has apologised to Femi Gbajabiamila, chief of staff to President Bola Tinubu, over his conduct during the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election in May.

In a viral video circulating on social media, Elliot is seen kneeling before Gbajabiamila and pleading for forgiveness.

“I don’t have any excuse. I have nothing to say other than that I am deeply sorry, sir. In our culture, we prostrate,” he said.

In May, Gbajabiamila said Elliot’s involvement in the impeachment of Mudashiru Obasa, the Lagos assembly speaker, during the 2025 leadership crisis nearly cost him his job.

Obasa was removed as speaker after a majority of legislators accused him of gross misconduct and abuse of office. Subsequently, Mojisola Meranda, then-deputy speaker, was elected the first female speaker of the house.

After 49 days in office, Meranda stepped down as speaker, and Obasa was reinstated following Tinubu’s intervention.

Elliot later apologised to Gbajabiamila, saying he thought the plot to impeach Obasa had Tinubu’s backing.

The incident strained the relationship between the two politicians, with Gbajabiamila later backing Odunuga-Bakare to succeed Elliot, who was seeking a fourth term in the Lagos State House of Assembly.

Despite Gbajabiamila’s withdrawal of support for his bid, Elliot proceeded with his candidacy but lost the election.

Elliot rejected the election outcome, alleged that his supporters were suppressed and intimidated during the election, and threatened to challenge the results.

Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in 2023, says President Bola Tinubu’s opponents in the 2027 election cannot improve Nigeria.

Tinubu, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is seeking a second term in office.

Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) are Tinubu’s major opponents.

The 2027 presidential election will be a repeat of the 2023 poll; however, Obi was in LP at the time while Atiku was the flagbearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Speaking on the MicOn Podcast on Saturday, Baba-Ahmed said none of the leading candidates for 2027 has the capacity to move the country forward.

Baba-Ahmed, who was Obi’s running mate in 2023, said the former governor of Anambra and the other contenders are among the breed of politicians who brought Nigeria to its current state.

“I will simply advise Uncle (Tinubu) to please prepare to hand over and move away, but not to the people contesting against him,” he said.

“Because none of them will improve Nigeria. All those people contesting against him too were all in bed together at some point or another — including Peter Obi. At some point, he was in PDP.”

The former lawmaker said he is calling for a “new Nigeria”, noting that he is the only politician who has never been a member of a ruling party.

“Tell me one politician who has never been in a ruling party. I’m the one. Have I ever been in a ruling party?” he said.

Baba-Ahmed said that although he was a member of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), he resigned before it merged with other parties to form the APC.

“I have never been in a ruling party. When I was in CPC, it was a little opposition party,” he said.

“I never had an APC membership card.”

Baba-Ahmed also weighed in on the controversy over the president’s records in the United States.

He queried why Atiku was “at the forefront of tormenting” Tinubu over his records when he had been quiet about the matter in the past.

The former vice-presidential candidate added that Tinubu has been allowed to lead but should not seek to extend his stay in power.

Baba-Ahmed said Tinubu has “qualified himself for divine intervention,” accusing the president of turning the country against political parties.

“All he did in three years was to destroy political parties,” he said.