2027: North must repay Tinubu for helping Buhari, says Jigawa speaker

The Speaker of the Jigawa State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Haruna Aliyu Dangyatin, has urged Northerners to support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s bid for a second term in 2027, describing it as a “payback” for the role played by Tinubu and the Southwest in the emergence of the late President Muhammadu Buhari.

Dangyatin, who is also the Jigawa State Coordinator of the City Boy movement, made the call while speaking with journalists shortly after the All Progressives Congress (APC) Jigawa Central Senatorial District stakeholders’ meeting held in Jahun, Jahun Local Government Area of the state.

According to him, Buhari’s emergence as president would not have been possible without the support of Tinubu and the people of the Southwest.

He said Buhari contested the presidency several times before eventually winning the election after receiving the backing of Tinubu and other political forces in the Southwest.

“President Buhari contested more than once, but he could not succeed until he got the support of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the people of the Southwest.

“So, this is a payback. It is about fulfilling the understanding between the North and South that when one side supports the other, the gesture should be reciprocated,” he said.

The Speaker said the ongoing APC mobilisation across Jigawa Central was not the formal launch of the party’s 2027 campaign but a grassroots engagement designed to introduce candidates and strengthen the party ahead of the elections.

He explained that the exercise was taking place across local government areas under his leadership, with meetings involving ward executives, local government officials and other party stakeholders.

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“We are going to each local government to meet the ward executives, local government executives and party leaders to introduce our candidates, from the presidential candidate down to members of the state House of Assembly,” he said.

Dangyatin expressed confidence that the APC would retain its support base in the area, dismissing the PDP’s previous success as a temporary setback.

“This zone is squarely an APC zone. What happened last time was just a mistake and an internal issue. We are determined to reclaim it,” he said.

On the current economic hardship in the country, the Speaker acknowledged the difficulties being experienced by Nigerians but urged citizens to remain patient with the Federal Government’s economic reforms.

He said reforms often come with temporary hardship before their benefits become evident.

“If there are economic reforms in any country in the world, there must be some hardship. But if people are patient, I know that the hardship will go,” Dangyatin said.