Bello, Abejide ask Kano non-indigenes to deliver two million votes for Tinubu in 2027
- Yahaya Bello and lawmaker Leke Abejide urged Kano's non-indigenous communities to mobilise two million votes for Tinubu in 2027.
- Bello said the roughly 500,000 votes Tinubu got in Kano in 2023 were not satisfactory.
- Abejide's foundation gave out ₦500 million in interest-free loans to women at the Kano event.
Former Kogi State governor Yahaya Bello and a federal lawmaker, Leke Abejide, have asked non-indigenous communities in Kano to work towards delivering at least two million votes for President Bola Tinubu and other All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates in the 2027 general elections.
They spoke on Saturday at an empowerment programme in Kano organised by the Leke Abejide Foundation, according to the two outlets that reported the event.
Bello said the roughly 500,000 votes Tinubu received in Kano in the 2023 presidential election were not good enough. He said the voting strength of Yoruba, Ebira, Igala and other communities in the state should not be underestimated.
"That performance was not satisfactory, and we must do better this time," Bello said.
He said he was confident Abejide could mobilise at least two million votes for the President, and urged the push to cover Senate, House of Representatives and state assembly races too.
Bello also argued that Tinubu should be allowed to serve two terms, asking whether power must return to the North before the President completes his first four years. He pointed to work on the Kano-Abuja highway as evidence of the administration's commitment to the region.
Loans for women, and a message from the governor
Abejide, who represents Yagba West, Yagba East and Mopamuro Federal Constituency in Kogi State and holds the title of Asiwaju of the Yoruba in Kano, said his foundation set aside ₦500 million as interest-free loans for women in cooperatives, including widows and businesswomen.
Food, clothing and cash were also shared at the event, and plans were announced for a separate scheme for unemployed young men. Abejide said a monitoring system would track repayments, and that defaulters would be left out of future disbursements.
Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf told the gathering that non-indigenous residents have a home in the state. He said his administration had appointed special advisers for Yoruba, Igbo and northern minority communities, and would consider similar representation for Igala and others.
"Kano is your home. You must take Kano as your first home," Yusuf said.
The governor also praised Abejide for extending his foundation's work beyond his constituency.
What happens next
The 2027 campaigns are still taking shape, and the two million figure is a target, not a result. For residents, the immediate takeaway is the loan scheme: women in cooperatives in Kano can approach the Abejide Foundation, with repayment tracked and defaulters barred from later rounds.
