Tinubu Vows To Defeat Insecurity At Jigawa Rally, Defends Fuel Subsidy Removal
By Sunday Etuka
President Bola Tinubu has said his administration will overcome the country’s security challenges, pointing to better pay and welfare for the armed forces and police.
Speaking on Tuesday at the Dutse Township Stadium in Jigawa State before a large crowd of party supporters, the President said his government is strengthening security agencies to protect lives and property nationwide.
“We will conquer insecurity,” Tinubu told the gathering. “We’ve been through many wars. We will defeat our enemies. Enemies of unity. Enemies of stability. Enemies of hope.”
He added that the police and armed forces are being strengthened and that personnel are now receiving better salaries.
At the rally, according to a statement by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, he presented the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign manifesto, titled “From Reforms to Prosperity.”
The document outlines the administration’s achievements and plans in infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture and security, and serves, he said, as a blueprint for consolidating economic reforms and delivering shared prosperity.
He promised to complete ongoing programmes and projects.
Tinubu also defended the removal of the fuel subsidy, describing it as wasteful. He accused political rivals who want it restored of trying to deceive Nigerians and questioned how they would pay for roads and other projects without the savings.
He said the withdrawal had made several projects possible across the country’s geopolitical zones, with no region left behind.
On agriculture, the President pledged more support for small-scale farmers through financing, mechanisation and irrigation. “Interest-free loans for farmers are coming,” he said, promising that food security would follow.
He thanked the people of Jigawa for their loyalty and urged them to take part actively in the coming general elections and vote for APC candidates at all levels.
Earlier in the day, Tinubu commissioned the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Multi-Purpose Skills Acquisition Centre and the Renewed Hope Technical Services Centre.
He also virtually opened the three-kilometre dualised Old Police Station to Palace Road in Dutse, and commissioned 400 tractors and other farm equipment bought by the state government to boost mechanised farming and food security.
In his welcome address, Governor Umar Namadi praised the President’s development efforts in Jigawa and across Northern Nigeria.
He said the Greater Hadejia Water Project is 60 per cent complete and also cited the Katsina to Maradi rail line and federal interventions in education, agriculture and social welfare.
He thanked the President for approving Federal Colleges of Education in Dutse and Hadejia, and for keeping his 2023 campaign promise to the late Emir of Dutse, Dr Nuhu Muhammad Sunusi, to address the acute water shortage in the town.
The governor also commended the creation of NELFUND, from which thousands of Jigawa students have benefited, and the Conditional Cash Transfer programme that has supported many poor families.
He asked for federal help with ecological challenges in Dutse and Hadejia, which he said have become insurmountable for the state government.
Vice President Kashim Shettima reminded the people of Jigawa of the President’s commitment to the welfare and progress of Northern Nigeria.
He recalled that Tinubu’s support helped the late President Muhammadu Buhari win the 2015 and 2019 elections, and that the President had also backed former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Nuhu Ribadu in their presidential bids.
He urged the people to return that support by voting APC in the 2027 general elections.
The Director General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, said the President remains committed to quality leadership, national economic consolidation and prosperity for Nigerians.
He challenged the opposition to offer better socio-economic policies instead of pursuing divisive politics.
Speaking for the Progressive Governors Forum, Sokoto State Governor Ahmed Aliyu recounted the President’s past political relationships and interventions involving Northern leaders.
He said it was time to back a dynamic and determined leader whose bold steps, in his words, have halted the nation’s movement towards the precipice.
The Deputy Director General of the campaign council and Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni, and the Special Adviser to the President on Political Affairs and Other Matters, Ibrahim Masari, commended the President’s purposeful leadership.
They urged party supporters to back him and every other APC candidate so the party can deliver on its manifesto.
Those present included Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas, APC governors, ministers and other political leaders from across the country.
