North will repay Tinubu in 2027, Abdulaziz Yari told the Oba of Lagos, citing the president’s support for Muhammadu Buhari’s second term
Senator Abdulaziz Yari, Director-General of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council and former governor of Zamfara State, said in Lagos on Monday, 14 September 2026, that the North will repay Tinubu in 2027 for backing the late former President Muhammadu Buhari through a full two terms.
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He spoke at Iga Idunganran Palace while calling on the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu.
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat accompanied the delegation.
Senator Abdulaziz Yari said the council had already visited the Sokoto Caliphate and wanted royal blessing before a nationwide campaign.
“For people in the North, I believe it’s time for us to repay Tinubu for letting the North finish its full term,” he said.
He recalled pressure inside the APC for then-national leader Bola Tinubu to run in 2019. “He refused to give in to the pressure and said it was the North’s turn. Tinubu said he will support Buhari until the end as long as Buhari is willing to come out and ask people to vote for him. And that was what Tinubu truly did.”
He added: “Today, I don’t believe there’s any reason for people from the northern region not to back Tinubu in continuing the good work he has already started and finishing his time in office.”
Oba Rilwan Akiolu answered with a familiar palace formula. “For the next four or five years, there is no vacancy in Aso Rock.” He urged a peaceful contest and honesty from the campaign team.
The monarch’s 2003 installation was approved when President Bola Tinubu was governor of Lagos, a history both sides like to recall.
The argument is transactional. It treats 2015 to 2023 as a debt the North should settle at the ballot. Rotation talk has shaped every cycle since 1999.
It is not written into the Constitution. Northern voters are not a single caucus, and several northern figures are already on other tickets or in other conversations.
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress answered the same palace visit by saying Aso Rock is not a royal stool and that 2027 will be vacant because the law requires an election.
Campaign season often begins in palaces because cameras follow kings. Blessing is not a result. Senator Abdulaziz Yari has put a regional IOU on the table.
Also read: Olubadan Refuses to Anoint Any Candidate for Oyo Poll
Whether the North accepts the bill is a question for 2027, not for Iga Idunganran.
