At his Presidential Campaign flag-off for the 2027 General Elections, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said, his “opponents created hunger and poverty”.
The President’s statement was made known via a State House Press Release on Saturday 24 October, 2026, signed by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
At the Campaign flag-off which took place at the Ranchers Bees Stadium in Kaduna, the President said, his government is working towards “eradicating” these “hunger and poverty”.
Tinibu also launched the 81-kilometre section of the Kaduna-Abuja highway at the rally.
The State House Press Release reads: “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Saturday in Kaduna at the flag-off of his presidential campaign for the 2027 general elections, took a swipe at opposition leaders, accusing them of creating the poverty and hunger they now use to campaign against him.
“”I hear my opponents talking about hunger and poverty. Who created it? They did. They created the hunger; they created the poverty. We are trying to eradicate it,” President Tinubu said at the well-attended rally at the Ranchers Bees Stadium.”
According to the SHPR, President Tinubu’s statement was “apparently directed” at Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, 2027 Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), who was Vice President from 1999 to 2007 under President Olusegun Obasanjo.
It says, the former VP “privatised” businesses run by the State and failed to financially settle “thousands of laid-off workers”, and reveals, the administration of President Tinubu has now carried the burden of paying those workers.
The SHPR reads: “His jibe was apparently directed at the ADC presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, who served as vice-president between 1999 and 2007, during which many State-run businesses were privatised without paying the gratuities and pensions of thousands of laid-off workers. Tinubu’s administration has been paying those workers.
“At the rally, President Tinubu inaugurated the 81-kilometre section of the Kaduna-Abuja highway with a symbolic ribbon-cutting.”
The President thanked the people of Kaduna State for their “trust” in him in 2023 and pleaded with them to vote him again come 2027.
He reminded the people of his achievements in the State’s infrastructure, as well as, the whole Northern region.
The entire heavyweights of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) were in attendance at the Campaign flag-off, including, the Vice President, Kashim Shettima; wives of the President and VP; all Governors under the ‘Broom’ Party, among others.
The SHPR reads: “President Tinubu thanked the people of Kaduna State for trusting him with their mandate in the 2023 elections and urged them to vote for him again, citing his record of achievements and investments in critical economic infrastructure in Kaduna State and the entire Northern region.
“The rally was attended by All Progressives National Chairman, Professor Netanwe Yilwatda, Vice President Kashim Shettima, wife of the President and wife of the Vice President, 32 Governors of the APC and former National Chairman of the APC, Senator Adamu Abdullahi, former governor Abdullahi Ganduje, among other party leaders.”
At the rally, during his speech, VP Shettima said, the APC emerged victorious over the rest in the 2023 Elections “because you saw the best option before you”.
He called for more support from Party members and supporters ahead of the 2027 Elections for the President to continue with his “programmes for national development”.
The SHPR further reads: “The Vice President…called on party members and supporters to sustain their solidarity with President Tinubu as the party seeks another mandate to continue its programmes for national development.
“”We won the last election because you saw the best option before you. For the good people of Kaduna State, we have seen why you stood with us within the mandate of the APC, a mandate to redeem the fortune of this great state. This wisdom has made Kaduna State a unified place,” Vice President Shettima said.”
