Marafa’s 1m Vote Threat Empty, Says APC Group

The All Progressives Congress Grassroots Governance Group (APC G3) has dismissed as baseless the threat by former Zamfara Central lawmaker, Senator Kabiru Marafa to reduce President Bola Tinubu’s votes by one million in the 2027 general elections.

Marafa, who recently resigned from the APC, made the claim on Monday in a Channels Television’s programme, ‘Politics Today’, vowing to mobilise against the President in the next elections.

Reacting in a statement on Tuesday, the APC G3 described the threat as hollow, saying that President Tinubu’s priority was to address challenges facing the North and other parts of the country, not politics of 2027.

The group, in a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Amechi Chuks Oyema, said the Tinubu-led administration was quietly working across various sectors to deliver projects that would benefit the people of Zamfara, the North and the nation at large.

“The President is aware of the sacrifices of people who worked for his election and, at the same time, he is working to fulfil his promises to the generality of Nigerians,” APC G3 said.

Backing the group’s position, Director-General of the Budget Office, Dr. Tanimu Yakubu, noted that more than half of the capital budgets for 2024 and 2025 were allocated to projects in Northern Nigeria.

“Contrary to politically motivated narratives, Northern Nigeria is not on the margins; it is at the heart of federal investment priorities. Over 50 per cent of the capital budget for 2024 and 2025 is traceable to projects and programmes in the North when major national trunk infrastructure and water basin investments are properly accounted for,” Yakubu stated.

Among the flagship projects listed were the Abuja–Kano Expressway dualisation, the ₦12.1 trillion Sokoto–Badagry Superhighway, the Kano–Maradi Standard Gauge Railway, the Zungeru–Kano Power Transmission Line, inland dry ports in Funtua and Bauchi, and expansion of airport runways in Katsina, Maiduguri and Kaduna.

“With all these, it is obvious that President Tinubu is not preoccupied with the 2027 elections, but working to uplift the North and other parts of the country,” APC G3 added.