The North Central Agenda (NCA), a pressure group representing Nigeria's North Central region, has declared President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's 2027 reelection a certainty and pledged an unprecedented mobilisation drive across the zone. The declaration came during a one-day conference on the region's development under the Renewed Hope Agenda, held in Abuja with delegates from all six North Central states and the Federal Capital Territory.
NCA Praises Tinubu's Record
NCA Convener Dr Ene Lilian Ogbole told regional stakeholders that the zone had suffered decades of infrastructure neglect and a serious security crisis before the current administration took office on May 29, 2023. She said President Tinubu's decisions, though sometimes difficult, had delivered visible gains across agriculture, security, education, and road transport.
Among the road projects she highlighted were the Calabar-Ebonyi-Benue-Kogi-Nasarawa-Abuja Super Highway, the Sokoto-Badagry Super Highway covering Niger and Kwara sections, the Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe-Maiduguri Highway, the Suleja-Minna Dual Carriageway, the Lokoja-Okene dualisation, and the Makurdi-Aliade-Otukpo Road.
On education, Ogbole pointed to increased TETFund investments and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund as evidence of the administration's commitment to students, adding that prolonged strikes that once disrupted academic calendars had been brought to a halt. She committed the group to an aggressive voter registration and mobilisation campaign. "For us as the mouthpiece of the North Central people, this reelection is a done deal as we will stop at nothing within the confines of the law to ensure that his victory is secured," she said.
Government Support and Infrastructure Milestones
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, was represented at the conference by his Senior Technical Assistant, Prof. Babatunde Bolaji Benard, who described Tinubu as a "trailblazer" whose reforms would take time to produce results but were essential for Nigeria's future. He noted that the Calabar-to-Abuja highway corridor had been on the drawing board since 1958 and praised the Sokoto-Badagry Super Highway for incorporating 32 dams designed to support agriculture and irrigation along the route.
Muslim-Muslim Ticket Debate Dismissed
Following the conference, Director General of the Tinubu Support Group, Dr Umar Tanko Yakasai, rejected fresh criticism of the APC's Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket by former Kano governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, who had insisted the arrangement would remain a campaign issue in 2027. Yakasai argued that the electorate had already resolved the question in 2023 by voting Tinubu into office. He also pointed to several key federal appointments drawn from the predominantly Christian North Central region, including the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission and the APC National Chairman, as proof that the President governs without religious or regional bias.
"President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has proven that he is President for all Nigerians irrespective of tribe or religion," Yakasai said, adding that the opposition was trying to distract attention from the administration's achievements.
Ganduje Says Atiku, Peter Obi Cannot Defeat Tinubu in North
In a related development, Abdullahi Ganduje, former national chairman of the ruling APC, has dismissed the presidential ambitions of Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi. Ganduje insisted that both men are too weak in the north to pose any serious threat to President Tinubu ahead of the January 16, 2027 election. Ganduje made the assertion on Sunday, July 19, at a public event in Kano state. The APC chieftain characterised the north as the region that ultimately decides who occupies Aso Rock and argued that neither opposition candidate has built the organisational presence required to make inroads there.
