Vice President Kashim Shettima on Saturday urged the North to turn its growing show of support for President Bola Tinubu into a campaign built on facts, saying the region’s backing would be earned through honesty, accountability and measurable results rather than assumed.
He spoke in Abuja at the unveiling of the Arewa for Asiwaju (A4A) Campaign Head Office and the formal inauguration of the northern think tank’s campaign structure.
Shettima, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Stanley Nkwocha, said the administration would keep the region’s confidence by presenting facts and being open with citizens about its reforms.
“By now, I believe the North has spoken. We have spoken with a resounding voice and unmistakable conviction,” he said, naming states from Adamawa to Zamfara and Borno to Niger.
He added that such confidence places an obligation on leaders that no officeholder should underestimate.
The Vice President said the President’s bid for a fresh mandate must rest on the administration’s record and a clear explanation of how a second term would serve Nigerians.
He assured the region that it had nothing to fear from a Tinubu second term.
“The mandate belongs to the people. We must account for its use and explain how another term would advance their interests,” he said.
Shettima acknowledged the hardship caused by recent economic adjustments and warned campaigners against dismissing genuine concerns or leaning on slogans to defend government policy.
“Our citizens have endured difficult adjustments. We cannot pretend otherwise,” he said. “What we owe them is an honest account of the decisions taken, the gains achieved and the difficulties that persist.”
He said the plight of traders facing higher costs, graduates seeking jobs and families struggling with daily expenses must remain central to policymaking.
“A failed policy enters somebody’s home as a missed meal, an unpaid school fee or an opportunity lost,” he said.
The Vice President also defended criticism as vital to democracy, saying the government must stay open to good ideas regardless of political affiliation, ethnicity, religion or region. “There is no democracy without critics,” he said.
He urged the A4A structure to serve not only as an election platform but also as a channel through which community concerns reach those in authority. “A complaint should travel from a community to those who can act upon it,” he said.
Shettima listed the administration’s priorities as security, economic opportunity, poverty reduction, education and stronger public institutions.
He noted that while elections impose a deadline on political persuasion, the duty of public service has none.
Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin said the inauguration of the A4A structure for the 2027 presidential election comes when the region needs a trusted platform to mobilise support for Tinubu.
He expressed confidence that it would help tell the accurate story of the President’s achievements.
APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentanwe Yilwatda, moved a motion for the North to back the Tinubu/Shettima ticket, outlining reasons for massive mobilisation.
He attributed the region’s support to the Vice President’s inclusive leadership over the past three years, citing landmark projects across sectors and the appointment of prominent northern leaders to key positions.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, said history was calling on the North to act with wisdom and evidence rather than sentiment in deciding to support the administration in 2027.
He said the region’s strength in driving national unity and progress should be leveraged in the coming election.
Speaking on behalf of the northern governors, Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf said Arewa would massively back the Tinubu/Shettima ticket on the strength of the administration’s performance.
He said the region’s support would rest on a commitment to fairness, equity, unity and national progress.
In his welcome address, A4A Director General and former Jigawa State governor, Abubakar Mohammed Badaru, said the group did not emerge by accident but was born of the conviction that Tinubu and Shettima had performed well and deserved re-election.
He pledged to carry the message of continuity and completion of the administration’s work to every part of northern Nigeria through the A4A network.
Also present were members of the National Assembly, ministers, presidential aides, heads of government agencies, former governors and senior citizens from the northern region.
