President Bola Ahmed Tinubu opened his 2027 re-election campaign at an All Progressives Congress (APC) rally in Kaduna on Saturday, Oct. 24, as party officials framed attendance as a sign of northern support.
Economic pressure formed part of the backdrop. Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) put September’s annual inflation rate at 14.63%, compared with 15.39% in August. Its consumer price index registered 146.38 points, up from 146.30 a month earlier, meaning the index continued to rise as inflation eased. The Associated Press described a cost-of-living crunch as fueling voter frustration with the economy.
The State House said Tinubu urged residents to return him to office and blamed opposition leaders for hunger and poverty. He added, “We are trying to eradicate it.” The State House also said he marked an 81-kilometer section of the Kaduna-Abuja highway with a symbolic ribbon-cutting.
Sen. Abdulaziz Yari, director-general of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, told Tinubu he had the backing of all northern Nigeria, calling it “101 per cent.” No survey was cited to quantify support across the region.
The Kaduna State Government said people were gathering by 1 a.m. ET (05:00 UTC), corresponding to 6 a.m. in Kaduna, and described activity extending onto roads outside the stadium. The State House reported that 32 APC governors attended, but provided neither a total crowd estimate nor a regional breakdown.
According to the State House, Vice President Kashim Shettima recalled Tinubu’s role in Muhammadu Buhari’s 2015 and 2019 election efforts as an example of their earlier political cooperation.
The APC named Rivers State and Maiduguri, Borno State, as later campaign stops but gave no dates. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) lists Jan. 16, 2027, for the presidential and National Assembly elections.
