Presidency’s account of the rally makes no mention of security
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Saturday formally began his re-election campaign in Kaduna. The city was a deliberate choice: for years, Kaduna and the wider North-West have been the front line of Nigeria’s banditry and kidnapping crisis.
Tinubu spoke at the Ranchers Bees Stadium, where he defended his record and accused opposition leaders of creating the hunger and poverty they now campaign on. His remarks appeared aimed at ADC candidate Atiku Abubakar. According to a statement by presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, the President did not address insecurity in the remarks it reported.
Insecurity has long defined the political backdrop in Kaduna. In March 2022, an Abuja-Kaduna train was bombed by bandits, killing eight and kidnapping more than 40 passengers. The state’s own security commissioner at the time reported 446 people killed in attacks over six months.
Tinubu has a history with the issue in Kaduna. As the APC candidate in 2022, he promised to eliminate kidnappers and killers troubling the security of Kaduna and the North. His campaign said then that he travelled at night to Birnin Gwari, a bandit-affected area, and Governor Uba Sani has since said the visit defied security advice.
At Saturday’s rally, the President’s chosen showpiece was infrastructure. He inaugurated the 81-kilometre section (Lot 1) of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano dual carriageway with a symbolic ribbon-cutting. Works Minister Dave Umahi said the administration is carrying out projects across the North-West and the country.
Governor Uba Sani has previously framed road projects as security gains. Of the Kaduna-Birnin Gwari road, he said it and related projects represent the dividends of peace. At the rally he thanked Tinubu for supporting state governments, saying federal-state collaboration was essential to development, and urged supporters to guard against misinformation, including AI-generated content on social media.
Vice President Kashim Shettima urged Nigerians to support the administration for continuity, citing national unity and democratic stability. APC campaign DG Abdulaziz Yari, a former Zamfara governor, defended the economic reforms, citing the foreign exchange market, and expressed confidence in the party’s ability to mobilise votes.
Present were APC National Chairman Prof. Netanwe Yilwatda, the First Lady and the Vice President’s wife, 32 APC governors, ex-chairman Abdullahi Adamu and ex-Kano governor Abdullahi Ganduje.
