Director-General of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, has called on northern Nigerians to support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027, saying the region should reciprocate the support Tinubu gave former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Yari made the appeal on Monday when he led members of the campaign council to the palace of the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, in Lagos.

The former Zamfara governor recalled that Tinubu declined pressure to contest the 2019 presidential election when Buhari was seeking a second term, arguing that power should remain in the North.

He said Tinubu had pledged to support Buhari as long as the former president sought the backing of Nigerians for another term.

Yari said the decision demonstrated Tinubu’s commitment to political understanding and fairness, adding that the North should now return the gesture by supporting the President’s bid for a second term.

“For us in the north, I think it is time for us to pay Tinubu back for allowing the north to complete its full term,” Yari said.

He said there was no justification for northern political stakeholders to withhold their support from Tinubu, urging them to back the President to continue what he described as the administration’s development efforts.

Yari assured Tinubu of support from political leaders in the region who believed in justice and fairness, saying they would work towards ensuring the continuation of his administration.

He, however, said the campaign council was not seeking support for Tinubu solely on the basis of rotational politics, but because it believed Nigerians wanted the President to remain in office.

Earlier, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu received the campaign council delegation before accompanying its members to the Oba’s palace.

Sanwo-Olu said the council’s engagement with traditional rulers demonstrated the importance of traditional institutions in promoting peace, unity and national development.