Arewa Youth Groups Reaffirm Support For Tinubu-Shettima Ticket

The Arewa Youth Merger Group and the Hausa-Fulani Coalition have reaffirmed their support for the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima in the 2027 general elections. They hinged their action on the need to uphold the 2015 power rotation arrangement and promote national unity.

In a statement signed by the national coordinator of the Arewa Youth Merger Group, Comrade Musa Mujahid Zaitawa, and made available to journalists in Kano, the coalition said its position followed extensive consultations with APC stakeholders, business groups, farmers, students and other interest groups across Northern Nigeria.

According to the statement, the decision was guided by the political understanding reached in 2015 on power rotation between the North and the South-West, which it said provided for an eight-year tenure for each region.

The group maintained that the agreement also reserved the office of the Vice President for the North. This development informed the choice of Senator Kashim Shettima from the North-East as President Tinubu’s running mate in 2023.

It recalled that in 2015, the North produced the President in the person of the late Muhammadu Buhari from the North-West, while Prof. Yemi Osinbajo from the South-West served as Vice President for two terms.

Following the completion of Buhari’s tenure in 2023, the statement noted that the North backed Tinubu from the South-West for the presidency, while the vice-presidential slot remained in the North with Shettima.

“As part of honouring the agreement, the positions of Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the National Chairman of the APC were also zoned to the North,” the statement said.

The coalition further argued that the current APC leadership structure reflects all six geopolitical zones in strategic national positions, describing the arrangement as promoting inclusiveness, equity and national balance.

Reaffirming its commitment to the Tinubu-Shettima ticket in 2027, the group pledged to mobilise support across the North to sustain the existing political arrangement.

It also urged political actors to respect existing agreements and pursue alliances that would strengthen national unity, fairness and peaceful coexistence.

The group disclosed plans to organise a peaceful engagement with members of the National Assembly, particularly the Senate, to present the position of Arewa youths on power rotation and national cohesion.