Arewa for Asiwaju: Rewriting the Northern Narrative for Continuity, Equity and Progress

Northern Nigeria’s political landscape ahead of the 2027 elections is undergoing a quiet but consequential realignment. For much of the period since the inauguration of the Renewed Hope administration, many northern political actors have maintained a tactical distance from openly campaigning for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the core North. The principal reason has not been ideological hostility but electoral calculation.

The administration’s far-reaching economic reforms, including fuel subsidy removal, exchange rate unification and the broader fiscal reset, have imposed immediate costs on households and businesses.

In a region where poverty and livelihood pressures remain acute, politicians feared that visible association with these policies could cost them local goodwill.

That hesitancy is now being systematically dismantled by Arewa for Asiwaju (A4A), one of the most visible and organisationally coherent pro-Tinubu mobilisation platforms to emerge in the North.

Conceived as an organised northern vanguard for the President’s re-election, the movement has assembled a 14-member Board of Trustees chaired by former Kano State Governor and former Minister of Education, Senator Ibrahim Shekarau, with former Yobe State Governor and Minister of Police Affairs, Senator Ibrahim Geidam, and former Plateau State Governor, Senator Simon Bako Lalong, serving as deputies.

Former Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, serves as Director-General of the National Directorate.

The structure spans all 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), with specialised directorates, state and local government coordinators, and a deliberate grassroots organisational framework.

Key Recent Activities and Milestones

A4A has moved rapidly from formation to operational deployment. Vice President Kashim Shettima and other key party stakeholders officially commissioned the A4A National Campaign Headquarters in Abuja, establishing a central operational base for coordination across the North.

The group has also launched a digital 2027 Election Intelligence and Analytics Portal designed to track data, coordinate strategies and manage mobilisation efforts in real time.

In Kaduna, A4A announced plans to mobilise 10,000 supporters drawn from all 19 northern states and the FCT for APC and Tinubu campaign activities.

In Kano, the group held a formal event to unveil 528 A4A Youth Ambassadors while simultaneously promoting digital and community-level youth registration.

Grassroots and zonal strategy sessions, including those led by regional figures such as Yahaya Bello in the North-Central zone, have focused on aligning state and local government coordinators for a house-to-house campaign approach across northern wards and polling units.

States and Key Locations Visited

The national executive team has maintained a strong presence in Abuja.

Members visited the Presidential Villa to meet with Vice President Kashim Shettima and held briefings at the APC National Secretariat with the party’s National Chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda.

The FCT chapter also conducted outreach visits to traditional rulers, including the Sa’peyi of Garki, to seek royal blessings and community endorsement.

In Kano State, the core leadership delegation attended the grand launch of the 528 A4A Youth Ambassadors. Following the event, members paid an official courtesy visit to the Kano State Government House to engage with Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.

In Kaduna State, A4A leaders and local coordinators worked to coordinate a 10,000-person delegation drawn from across the North to support broader APC campaign activities.

The Kaduna chapter also held closed-door strategic planning meetings to strengthen ward-level deployment.

In Taraba State, the movement organised a large-scale youth solidarity march in Jalingo, the state capital, to demonstrate its presence and mobilisation capacity in the North-East.

What distinguishes A4A is the intensity of its activities, both offline and online.

On the ground, it has staged mobilisation rallies, appointed youth ambassadors, targeted large turnouts for campaign flag-offs and compiled detailed catalogues of federal projects to counter narratives of regional neglect.

Online, the hashtag #ArewaforAsiwaju has become a recurring feature in northern digital spaces.

Prominent northern influencers and content creators, including Abdurahman Leme, Waspapping, Yellow, Kawu Garba and others, have consistently amplified the hashtag, driving engagement that has repeatedly placed it among trending political conversations.

The content goes beyond mere sloganeering. It systematically highlights interventions under the Tinubu administration in the North, seeking to shift the discourse from short-term hardship to medium-term institutional and infrastructural gains.

This narrative shift is supported by what the movement describes as observable outcomes, particularly in security and infrastructure.

Under the coordination of National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, security operations have reportedly recorded measurable progress against banditry and terrorism.

Prominent bandit commanders, including Halilu Sububu, Boderi Isyaku, Buharin Yadi and others, have reportedly been neutralised.

Thousands of hostages have been rescued, large quantities of illegal arms recovered, and key corridors, such as the Abuja-Kaduna highway, restored to greater usability, including night travel during certain periods.

In the North-East, significant numbers of fighters and their family members have surrendered, while the operational capacity of the remaining groups has reportedly been weakened.

Although insecurity has not been eliminated, the scale and frequency of large-scale attacks are reported to have declined in some areas compared with the peak years preceding 2023, contributing to a relatively safer operating environment in parts of northern Nigeria.

President Tinubu’s decision to entrust Ribadu with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), building on his earlier political support for Ribadu as the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) presidential candidate in 2011, has placed a northern professional with institutional credibility at the centre of the country’s security architecture.

Infrastructure delivery further challenges claims of regional neglect.

Minister of Works, David Umahi, has stated that the North accounts for more than 60 per cent of the administration’s legacy road projects.

Flagship interventions include accelerated work on the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano corridor, with substantial sections reportedly completed using reinforced concrete pavement within timelines considerably shorter than those of previous efforts.

Other projects include the Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway, the Gombe-Biu segment of the Akwanga-Maiduguri corridor and several routes across the North-East.

In Taraba State, long-standing infrastructure demands are being addressed through the Bali-Serti-Gashaka-Gembu Road and the Gembu-Mbamnga-Yang corridor linking border communities.

These projects are expected to reconnect historically underserved areas and support trade, agriculture and mobility.

Complementary works include the Tungo-Karamti Road linking Adamawa and Taraba states, the rehabilitation of the Kashimbila-Takum axis and numerous other federal interventions across the North-West, North-East and North-Central geopolitical zones.

These are not merely abstract promises. Many of the projects are reportedly under active construction or have reached advanced stages, with potential benefits for market access, security logistics and economic activities.

The broader political argument advanced by A4A and its supporters rests on continuity and reciprocity.

President Tinubu has a documented history of political support for northern figures.

When former Vice President Atiku Abubakar left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 2007 presidential election, Tinubu provided him with a political platform under the Action Congress.

In 2011, he backed Nuhu Ribadu’s presidential bid under the Action Congress of Nigeria.

He subsequently played a central role in the 2015 and 2019 electoral victories of the late President Muhammadu Buhari.

After eight years of a northern presidency under Buhari, proponents of rotational balance argue that equity requires allowing a southern president who has consistently engaged and trusted northern partners to complete a full eight-year term.

Calls for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to shelve his 2027 presidential ambition and defer to this rotational principle are, therefore, presented by supporters as expressions of institutional fairness rather than regional hostility.

Their argument is that, having completed eight years under a northern president, Nigeria should allow a southern president who has demonstrated commitment to northern security and infrastructure development to complete his tenure.

Arewa for Asiwaju has begun to bridge the gap between political caution among northern elites and popular mobilisation.

Its combination of structured grassroots organisation, digital amplification of government achievements and efforts to link short-term economic difficulties with longer-term national and regional gains is positioning the APC for potentially stronger electoral performance in the North.

Sustaining this momentum will require continued investment in grassroots structures, consistent communication about completed and ongoing projects, and disciplined engagement that acknowledges present difficulties without overlooking measurable progress.

The proponents of the movement, its leadership, coordinators and the digital voices who have kept #ArewaforAsiwaju visible deserve commendation for the work already done.

They have demonstrated that northern support for political continuity is not automatic but can be organised, evidence-based and politically decisive.

By Arc. Joshua Pwajok Panam
Political Strategist and Public Affairs Analyst, writing from Jos.