Dutse, the Jigawa State capital, was agog on Tuesday, November 10, as dignitaries and thousands of All Progressives Congress (APC) members gathered to receive President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Vice-President Kashim Shettima and their entourage for a one-day presidential campaign mega rally and the commissioning of projects.
The rally featured strong political messages from party leaders. The overwhelming reception given to the president by the large crowd in Dutse was described by party supporters as a signal that his popularity was growing daily in Northern Nigeria.
Party leaders said the Jigawa APC presidential mega rally had left an indelible mark on the 2027 election campaign through the messages delivered at the event. They also described the rally as a morale booster for party members and a strong message to opposition parties that they had no foothold in the region.
According to party leaders, the Dutse rally would serve as a springboard for the continuation of the APC presidential campaign across Northern Nigeria.
From the moment his aircraft touched down at Dutse International Airport to his arrival at Dutse Township Stadium, the entire metropolis stood still, swallowed by a ceaseless stream of supporters clad in the ruling APC’s trademark brooms and caps.
Addressing the mammoth crowd, President Tinubu did not come empty-handed. He used the platform to inaugurate four multi-billion-naira projects executed by the state government, including the Renewed Hope Technical Services Fabrication Centre, the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Multipurpose Skills Acquisition Centre, a dualised road project and an agricultural mechanisation programme boasting 400 tractors and 60 combine harvesters.
President Tinubu described the projects as a testament to the alignment between his administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda and Jigawa’s own 12-Point Agenda for development.
But the rally was equally a moment for political combat. Tinubu reaffirmed his administration’s resolve to crush insurgency and banditry, urging Jigawa residents to see their neighbours as partners in intelligence-sharing.
“We have been through many wars. We will defeat our enemies. Enemies of unity, enemies of stability, enemies of all,” he declared, while promising improved welfare, housing and salaries for security personnel.
He also fired a warning shot at opposition parties threatening to reverse the removal of the fuel subsidy.
“To those who say subsidy is coming back, it’s a lie. Don’t let them lie to you again,” Tinubu said, arguing that the funds saved were being redirected into education through NELFUND and agricultural mechanisation to bring down food prices.
On power, he promised a departure from the “old privatisation that is not working”, vowing to deliver reliable electricity to Nigerian homes and businesses.
Beyond the spectacle, the Dutse rally was a strategic declaration. Jigawa, with more than 3.7 million registered voters, sits at the heart of the North-West, Nigeria’s largest voting bloc.
Senator Abdulaziz Yari, Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, did not mince words: “The president should just go and sleep because it is a walkover for him in the North.”
Yari accused opposition parties of using artificial intelligence (AI) to manipulate images and portray their rallies as larger than they actually were, with the aim of deceiving the public into believing they enjoyed widespread support when, in reality, they lacked the people’s confidence.
Vice-President Shettima reinforced the sentiment, claiming that all former governors of Jigawa, including opposition figures, were firmly behind the president’s re-election.
He pointed to federal investments in the Kwanar Danja-Hadejia Road, the Kano-Maiduguri Road, the Kano-Maradi Rail Project and 1,500 Renewed Hope housing units as evidence of Tinubu’s commitment to the region.
“He respects the North; let’s reciprocate it,” Shettima told the crowd.
The vice-president also lambasted Rotimi Amaechi for allegedly betraying the late President Muhammadu Buhari by making several fictitious accusations against him after his death. He contrasted Amaechi’s comments with what he described as President Tinubu’s unwavering loyalty to Buhari, noting that Tinubu had continued with the projects and programmes initiated by the late president.
He said this demonstrated how trustworthy President Tinubu was, while questioning the credibility of Amaechi and his political ally in the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Jigawa State Governor, Malam Umar Namadi, who was visibly elated by the warm reception accorded his visitors, said the decades-long relationship between President Tinubu and the people of the state went beyond politics and was rooted in development.
He said both shared a common aspiration to build a prosperous Nigeria.
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He assured the president that the people of Jigawa stood with him, just as he stood with them, and would deliver bloc votes to ensure his overwhelming victory in the forthcoming election.
Governor Namadi appealed to President Tinubu to support the state with Federal Government intervention to tackle gully erosion and flooding, which he said appeared to be beyond the state government’s capacity.
He reiterated the electorate’s commitment to the president’s re-election in 2027.
He noted that the state government had spent billions of naira controlling gully erosion and flooding in Hadejia, Dutse, Birnin Kudu and Gwaram, but the challenges remained unresolved because they required investments far beyond the state’s financial capacity.
He added that environmental degradation affected almost every local government area of the state. However, the government continued to make efforts to help residents reclaim their livelihoods and rebuild their homes.
He said Federal Government intervention would complement the state’s efforts and provide a lasting solution.
The governor commended President Tinubu for executing various development projects in the state, including roads, rail lines, agricultural support, social security interventions for more than 170,000 households, student support, the establishment of a university and water supply projects. He said the initiatives would support the sustainable development of Jigawa State and Nigeria at large.
Dr Musa Illiyasu Kwankwaso, a frontline APC stalwart, captured the mood: “From the airport to the Dutse Township Stadium, the atmosphere was electrifying, with enthusiastic supporters chanting ‘4+4’ in support of President Tinubu’s second-term bid.”
The chant, a local shorthand for a second term, echoed repeatedly, a rhythmic mantra that party loyalists interpreted as a foregone conclusion for 2027.
In his speech at the rally, the Deputy Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council in charge of the North, Governor Mai Mala Buni, said the presidential rotation or zoning formula was initiated by northern political elites to ensure inclusive and sustainable democratic development in Nigeria.
According to him, the formula promotes love, peace and understanding among Nigerians, as well as the corporate existence of the country. He said Northerners would not allow anyone to decide for them or act against the collective national interest.
Buni maintained that President Tinubu’s re-election was a collective national project that every good citizen of the North and Nigeria needed to support to achieve sustainable peace, unity and progress.
In his remarks, the Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Political Matters, Alhaji Ibrahim Kabiru Masari, described the Jigawa rally as another indication of the North’s support for President Tinubu and the APC.
He challenged the opposition to gather even 0.9 per cent of the crowd at the Dutse rally if they truly enjoyed grassroots support.
Speaking on behalf of the Progressive Governors Forum, Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma charged the people of Jigawa and Nigerians to remain vigilant and vote for continuity rather than uncertainty.
He said that a review of the track records of the presidential candidates across the various political parties would show that President Tinubu was the only committed and sincere candidate with Nigeria and Nigerians on his agenda.
He therefore urged the people of Jigawa and Nigerians to vote for Tinubu and all APC candidates in the forthcoming general election.
Aminu Dalhatu, General Manager of Three Brothers Company and an APC stakeholder, said the overwhelming reception accorded the president by the mammoth crowd in Dutse signalled that President Tinubu’s popularity was increasing daily in Northern Nigeria.
The Dutse mega rally is expected to serve as a launching pad for the APC presidential campaign across Northern Nigeria. It also provided a morale boost for party members and sent a strong message to the opposition about the APC’s political strength in the region.
The Dutse APC mega rally was attended by President Tinubu, Vice-President Kashim Shettima, several governors, political leaders and other party members who converged on the state capital to show solidarity.
Whether the mammoth crowd translates into votes is a question only the ballot box can answer. But for one Tuesday in Dutse, politics was not just a contest; it was a carnival, a communion and a collective declaration that Jigawa stood with Tinubu.
