Immediate-past National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has predicted a shocker for those thinking that northern Nigeria won’t vote for the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027.

He said they would be making “a big mistake” as the region would overwhelmingly deliver the area for the president.

The immediate-past governor of Kano State also declared that “there is no better candidate to govern Nigeria beyond 2027 from Southern Nigeria than Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”

He made these declarations yesterday in Abuja when a delegation of the Northern Nigeria Youth Leaders (NNYLF) from the 19 states of the north, paid him a courtesy visit to decorate him as the patron of the forum.

Ganduje, who is now the board chairman of Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), said the country is lucky to have Tinubu, who is a real politician as the President.

He said: “Pertaining to the next election in 2027, those that are nursing or thinking otherwise that the North will vote another candidate other than Asiwaju are making a big mistake.

“This is the first time Nigeria as a nation is lucky to have a politician as president. His constituency is politics. His upbringing is politics because he believes in the unity of this country. In fact, he struggled. He was even in exile for democracy to survive in Nigeria.

“So there is no better person to be elected in 2027 than Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”

Ganduje revealed that there was an agreement even before the election of the late President Muhammadu Buhari that after eight years of his government, a southerner would emerge.

“Asiwaju has only been there for less than four years now, and we have seen the reforms that he undertook. The reforms that he introduced in order to improve the social economic development of this country.”

Highlighting some of the bold reforms of Tinubu’s administration, the former Kano governor said: “All the candidates who contested with him in 2023 promised to remove fuel subsidy, even the previous government promised to remove the subsidy but nobody was bold enough to do that job but Asiwaju has succeeded in removing the subsidy and now all the state governors, irrespective of their political leaning, they believe they are getting more and more funds for the development of their respective states.

“He did not say that he removed subsidy because he wanted to improve the APC governors, but he did it for the nation. So, this president has undertaken measures that will improve the economy of this country,” Ganduje said.

Assuring leaders of NNYLF of his support, Ganduje commended them for their boldness not only to mobilise votes for the re-election of Asiwaju but also to raise money to purchase his nomination forms.

“There’s no better commitment than this, you are contributing funds, you are also contributing your brain, you are contributing your energy and you are contributing your time to ensure the re-election of Asiwaju, I have to thank you for this.”

National leader of NNYLF, Muhammad Gamji, who described Ganduje as a role model, added that as a governor, Ganduje made him one of the most popular youth leaders through his support.

“We are here to tell you that wherever you focus, that’s where we go with you. We have all agreed to support the re-election of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu by massively mobilising all the youths in the 19 northern states and raising funds by his nomination form ahead of the election.

“We have to do this because some people are insinuating that the North will not vote for Asiwaju in 2027, but that’s a lie because nobody has supported us in the North like Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu,”Gamji declared.