The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Yilwatda Nentawe, and Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, have called on members of the newly inaugurated Tinubu Support Group (TSG) structures in the state to intensify grassroots mobilisation for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election in the 2027 general elections.
The call was made on Saturday during the inauguration of the national, state and local government structures of the Tinubu Support Group at the Sani Abacha Stadium, Kofar Mata, Kano.
The event attracted a mammoth crowd of APC supporters and members of various support groups from across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, with the stadium reportedly filled to capacity several hours before the commencement of the ceremony.
Nentawe, while welcoming former Kano State Governor, Senator Kabiru Gaya; Senator Rufa’i Sani Hanga, representing Kano Central Senatorial District; and other defectors from opposition parties, urged them to join hands with other APC members and work tirelessly to ensure victory for President Tinubu.
He expressed satisfaction with the massive turnout, saying the unprecedented crowd demonstrated growing support for Tinubu in Kano.
“We are very happy with this unprecedented crowd. With this, we are very sure the coast is clear for President Tinubu to secure his second-term bid,” he said.
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James Abiodun Faleke, founder and convener of the Tinubu Support Group, who inaugurated the structures, charged the newly appointed officials to commence immediate grassroots mobilisation for Tinubu and other APC candidates.
Faleke said the group must take its activities to communities across the country and communicate the achievements of the Tinubu administration to voters ahead of the 2027 elections.
He described President Tinubu as a “marketable product,” citing what he described as the achievements of the administration under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
Faleke also urged members of the group to defend the Federal Government’s decision to remove the fuel subsidy, particularly against calls by opposition figures for its restoration.
He said subsidy removal was necessary to reset the Nigerian economy and challenged TSG members to explain the policy and its implications to Nigerians during their grassroots engagements.
According to him, the group began mobilising support for Tinubu’s presidential ambition as far back as 2020, when his emergence as president was still uncertain.
He therefore urged the newly inaugurated structures not to rely on the enthusiasm generated by the Kano rally but to sustain their mobilisation activities at the grassroots.
Governor Yusuf, in his remarks, said the massive turnout at the event was evidence of the growing acceptability of President Tinubu’s candidacy in Kano State.
The governor said the Tinubu administration had made significant progress and deserved another term to consolidate its programmes and policies.
He urged Kano residents to support Tinubu, as well as APC candidates contesting elections at the federal, state and local government levels.
Yusuf also highlighted federal projects and appointments involving Kano indigenes, saying the state had benefited from various programmes and infrastructure interventions of the Tinubu administration.
He specifically cited the Kano-Kaduna Expressway and other ongoing road projects as evidence of the Federal Government’s interventions in the state.
The governor called on supporters to take the mobilisation beyond political gatherings and into communities across Kano State.
The TSG inauguration was also marked by the defection of several prominent politicians formerly associated with opposition parties into the APC.
Among those received were former senators Rufa’i Sani Hanga and Kabiru Ibrahim Gaya, as well as Mas’ud El-Jibrin Doguwa.
Others included Ali Datti Yako, Deputy Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Kano; Badaru Umar, former Chairman of Ungogo Local Government Area; Isyaku Ali Danja, former Speaker of the Kano State House of Assembly; and Yusuf Bello Danbatta, former PDP deputy governorship candidate.
Also joining the APC were Baraka Sani, former Special Adviser to the President; Abdullahi Zubairu Abiya, chairman of an NNPP faction; Abdulmajid Dauda Dandawaki, former NNPP senatorial candidate; and other political leaders and their supporters.
The mass defection, coming alongside the inauguration of TSG structures down to the local government level, signals intensifying political mobilisation in Kano ahead of the 2027 elections.
Faleke, however, cautioned the new officials against complacency, stressing that the real task begins after the inauguration.
He charged them to remain active at the grassroots and continuously mobilise voters for Tinubu and other APC candidates, expressing confidence that the newly established structures would deliver victory for the party in 2027.