APC opens 2027 campaign in Kaduna as questions mount over Tinubu's northern support
- The APC has flagged off its 2027 presidential campaign in Kaduna, with Yola and Lagos stops to follow.
- Reports say some APC candidates hide the President's posters in rural areas, though this is unproven.
- The President's team calls talk of northern rejection opposition propaganda.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has begun its 2027 presidential campaign in Kaduna, with stops in Yola, Adamawa State, on January 4, 2027 and a grand finale in Lagos on January 9, according to campaign schedules reported by BusinessDay and Independent.
The flag-off has renewed a question many Nigerians are asking: how much support does President Bola Tinubu still have in the North, a region whose votes have consistently and significantly influenced presidential election outcomes since 1999?
Both outlets reported unsubstantiated claims that some northern political figures within the APC are working against the President. They also noted reports that some party candidates display campaign posters showing their faces beside the President's in city centres, but remove them deeper in the hinterland.
Handlers of the President's strategic team dismissed such talk as cheap rhetoric by naysayers and opposition propaganda meant to make the public believe the North is working against the President, the reports said.
Why the North matters
Northern votes have shaped every presidential result since 1999. In 2015, Muhammadu Buhari defeated then President Goodluck Jonathan, winning 12,228,491 votes from the North alone, plus 3,196,430 from the South, for a national total of 15,424,921. Jonathan polled 12,853,162 nationwide, according to the reported regional breakdown, which the outlets said matches the national figures confirmed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In 2023, Tinubu got 5,598,686 votes from the North out of his 8,794,726 nationwide, the reports said.
For ordinary Nigerians, the stakes are practical. How the region votes in 2027 will help shape the policies that affect prices, jobs and security nationwide.
The reports said some have projected that the President is rejected among the talakawas, or common people, and linked that projection to harsh economic realities arising from his administration's policies, which the reports said have affected them like other Nigerians. The outlets also reported growing agitation among the talakawas against the region's political elite.
Opposition yet to take off
The same reports noted that leading opposition candidates have so far appeared mostly on television and talk shows, with their posters scarce in many northern neighbourhoods. The outlets asked whether this is a strategy or a shortage of funds, and mentioned talk of a possible coalition of presidential candidates.
They also pointed to the choice of Yola, home state of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, as a signal that the APC intends to campaign hard in areas seen as opposition ground.
What happens next: the APC's campaign moves to Yola on January 4, 2027, before closing in Lagos on January 9. Whether northern voters stay with the President or turn against him will become clearer as the campaigns reach the grassroots.
