Tinubu names Senator Yari APC campaign council director-general
- President Bola Tinubu has inaugurated the APC Presidential Campaign Council and kept Senator Abdul'aziz Yari as its director-general.
- Yari, known as the White Lion, represents Zamfara West and was Zamfara governor from 2011 to 2019.
- He has begun meeting traditional rulers, clerics and party leaders across the North and South, the campaign says.
President Bola Tinubu has formally inaugurated the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council and reaffirmed Senator Abdul'aziz Abubakar Yari as its director-general, according to an opinion piece by Edo State Information Commissioner Kassim Afegbua, a member of the council.
The appointment, first made before the inauguration, puts the senator representing Zamfara West in charge of the party's campaign machine for the coming presidential election.
Yari, widely called the White Lion, was governor of Zamfara State for two terms, from 2011 to 2019, and chaired the Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF) between 2015 and 2019. He was born in Talata Mafara, Zamfara State, in January 1968.
Before his governorship, he was a House of Representatives member for Anka/Talata Mafara Federal Constituency from 2007 to 2011, and earlier held party posts in the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).
He also chairs the board of Geregu Power Plc and heads the Senate Committee on Water Resources.
Why it matters
The director-general's job is to pull together governors, lawmakers, party executives and local leaders behind the president's re-election bid. For ordinary Nigerians, the campaign's message on the economy, security and jobs will shape the choices on offer at the ballot.
According to Afegbua, Tinubu told party stalwarts, governors and international observers that he had no doubts about Yari's ability to deliver, citing his organisational drive and reach across regions.
The piece says Yari has since been meeting stakeholders and opinion leaders, preaching peace, solidarity and political balance, and has visited traditional rulers in different parts of the country.
It describes the campaign's approach as grassroots mobilisation that engages traditional institutions, faith leaders, trade unions, youth and women's groups across the 19 northern states and the southern zones.
Afegbua also says Yari believes power should rotate between the North and the South to promote equity and stability.
The article contrasts the APC's on-ground campaigning with what it calls the opposition's social media activity, and lists the campaign's main issues as North-South geopolitics, economic stability, inclusion, national integration and security.
The piece is a campaign-side account: it does not give dates for the inauguration or the stakeholder meetings, and it does not name the opposition parties or candidates involved.
What happens next
The campaign council is expected to keep touring states and meeting local leaders as the election approaches. No timetable for those visits was given in the piece.
