Madar (Kaduna) - Nigerian President Bola Tinubu formally launched his campaign for a second term on Saturday, October 24, 2026, at a rally in the northern city of Kaduna, ahead of the presidential election scheduled for January 16, 2027, Reuters reported.
By midday, thousands of supporters of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had filled much of the 10,000-capacity Ranchers Bees stadium, according to the agency. "Come 2027, January 16, you must go out massively and elect me again," said Tinubu, 74, who promised "prosperity, continuity and progress," according to Nigerian daily Blueprint, and asked the crowd whether they had their voter cards.
Rejecting opposition complaints about hunger and poverty, he blamed his rivals: "They created the hunger. They created the poverty." Phrank Shaibu, spokesperson for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar's campaign, called the remark "delusion or a staggering case of political amnesia."
Since taking office in 2023, Tinubu has scrapped fuel subsidies and devalued the naira, reforms credited with improving public finances, foreign reserves and investor sentiment but which have also contributed to Nigeria's worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation, according to Reuters. Petrol cost about 1,400 naira per litre in Lagos and Abuja in September, and up to 1,500 naira in parts of the north.
His main challengers are Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, who finished second and third in 2023. His camp says 32 of Nigeria's 36 state governors back him, and the proposed timetable includes rallies in 12 states, ending with a major closing rally in his home state of Lagos on January 9.
