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.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says apartheid would not have ended in South Africa without Nigeria’s support for the struggle against white minority rule.

South Africa held its first democratic, non-racial elections in 1994, marking the end of apartheid rule.

Speaking during an interview on C-Suite Cafe, hosted by Ikem Okuhu, the former president, who served as Nigeria’s military head of state between 1976 and 1979 and later as civilian president from 1999 to 2007, said Nigeria’s involvement in the anti-apartheid struggle was driven by the belief that no black person should be treated as inferior because of their skin colour.

“We were not doing what we did in South Africa or in Southern Africa or decolonisation anywhere for our personal gain or for our country. We did it for our race. I believe that no black man anywhere or black person anywhere should be regarded as an inferior human being because of his colour,” Obasanjo said.

Obasanjo said Nigeria’s role in the abolition of apartheid in South Africa could be described as “enlightened self-interest”, adding that the West African country did not support the struggle with the expectation of receiving anything in return.

“And for me—and I believe for Nigeria at that time and even now—we should be proud of what we did because without Nigeria, South Africa would not have got rid of apartheid when it got rid of it. That is true,” Obasanjo said.

The former president said Nigeria worked with several African and international leaders in the campaign against apartheid, including Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia, Samora Machel of Mozambique, former US President Jimmy Carter, former British Prime Minister James Callaghan and Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme.

Obasanjo criticised xenophobic attacks against African migrants in South Africa, saying the country’s leaders had not done enough to address the problem.

He acknowledged that some migrants may be in the country illegally or may have committed crimes, but said such violations could not justify mob attacks on their homes and businesses.

“I do not believe that you use illegality to treat illegality, asking and encouraging area boys and area girls to break into their houses and break into their shops,” he said.

Obasanjo rejected arguments that migrants were taking jobs from South Africans, noting that some migrants contribute to the economy by creating jobs.

Last week, the national assembly suspended all legislative engagements with South Africa due to the persistent xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in the former apartheid country.

About 100 Nigerians have been reportedly killed in mob and hate-related attacks in South Africa since 2022.

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.