.Says neither Atiku nor Obi can lay claim to one state in south or north respectively
Deji Elumoye in Abuja
Director-General of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, on Friday made a comparative analysis of the strength of the three main candidates in the January, 2027 presidential poll saying APC’s Bola Tinubu has an edge over Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, his two opponents from African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC).
Speaking with newsmen after meeting with President Tinubu at the State House, Abuja, the two-time former governor of Zamfara State was emphatic that Tinubu controls more than 10 states each in both the Northern and Southern parts of the country.
His words: “Today, I’m sure Asiwaju has control of more than 10 states in the south, in the conservative estimate, more than 10 states in the south, and I believe he has control of more than 10 states in the north. This is calculation, it is not rocket science.”
He also stressed that Tinubu has turned the nation’s economy around since he assumed office over three years ago adding that this would come in handy in campaigning for people to give him second term.
“President Bola Tinubu, since time he assumed office, has turned around the situation that he met on ground, still the economy is moving. So I think we have done enough that we can tell our opponents about what we did. We are not promising. We are doing it, and we are going to continue.”
Yari, however, rated both Atiku and Obi low on the issue of geographical strength arguing that the duo cannot boast of any major support base in the South and North respectively.
According to him: “Can you say that the ADC candidate today in the southern part of the country, can he beat his chest and say he has control of one state in the south? And I don’t think Peter Obi who use to be my colleague, can beat his chest. Can he say he has a state control in the northern Nigeria?”
The Senator further stressed that from empirical calculations, there was no way a candidate without wide geographical spread can become President of Nigeria and cited the example of late former President Muhammadu Buhari who was very popular in the North but had no base in the South.
Said he: “This calculation shows us that even if you have control of 80% of the south, if you don’t have anything in the north, you cannot make it. If you have 80% of control of the north, if you don’t have any state in the south, you y make it, and that’s what it is. Look at Buhari of blessed memory. He had control of over 70% at that time, over 11 states in the North and had no any control of one in the south. He couldn’t make it all the way.”
The APC campaign DG also hinted that Tinubu had in the past assisted Atiku and Obi in their past political careers saying God will continue to make things work for the good of the President.
“We are talking of the president of the country, and this president, who, by God’s grace, Almighty God used him to support Atiku some time back, and the same time to support Peter Obi.
“So if Allah uses me to support you, there is no how Allah will use you to bring me down. I mean, they cannot bring him down.”
Asked when the party’s presidential campaign will kick off, Yari stated that proper campaign which begins on November 24, in Kaduna will be preceded by a meeting of the Campaign Council in Abuja on November 14.
His wo: “The President asked for me to come and brief him on where we are, and to discuss the timetable for the state visits. And by God’s grace, his team, I, and Mr President himself, we have agreed on how it’s going to be done. We have put forward a proposal.
“The inaugural meeting is going to be done on the 14th of this month. That’s next Wednesday at the State House banquet hall, and by God’s grace, on the 24th of October, we’re going to do our flag off campaign in Kaduna, inshallah, and then we outlined our state visits to each and every place where we will go, and then President has approved them. And so we are going to hit the ground running by the 24th of October, inshallah.
“The next state is going to Rivers, from there we will be in Maiduguri. We have the timetable, and we’re going to make it available after the inauguration. But these have all been understood and approved by the team of Mr President and I.”