The Director-General of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, has expressed confidence that President Bola Tinubu will win more than 20 states in the 2027 general election.

Yari also dismissed the electoral strength of opposition presidential hopefuls, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), arguing that neither could claim significant control beyond their respective strongholds.

The former Zamfara State governor spoke after meeting Tinubu at the State House, Abuja, where they discussed the timetable for the President’s re-election campaign and planned visits to states across the country.

Yari disclosed that the APC presidential campaign organisation would be inaugurated on Wednesday, October 14, at the State House Banquet Hall, while the official campaign flag-off would hold in Kaduna on October 24.

“By God’s grace, on the 24th of October, we’re going to do our flag-off campaign in Kaduna, inshallah,” he said.

He added that Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and Maiduguri, Borno State, would follow Kaduna, noting that the complete itinerary would be made public after the inauguration.

On the opposition’s chances, Yari argued that regional popularity alone would not guarantee victory in a presidential election, stressing the importance of securing support across the country.

He questioned whether Atiku could claim control of any state in southern Nigeria and whether Obi had a stronghold in northern Nigeria.

“Can the ADC candidate today in the southern part of the country beat his chest and say he has control of one state in the South? And I don’t think Peter Obi, who used to be my colleague, can beat his chest and say he has control of one state in northern Nigeria,” Yari said.

According to him, a candidate who commands overwhelming support in one region but lacks a meaningful presence in another would struggle to win nationally.

Yari cited the 2011 presidential election, when the late former President Muhammadu Buhari secured substantial support in northern Nigeria but failed to win the presidency, to buttress his argument.

He maintained that Tinubu had a strong political presence in both the North and South, estimating that the President could count on more than 10 states in each region.

“This calculation shows us that even if you have control of 80 per cent of the South, if you don’t have anything in the North, you cannot make it. If you have 80 per cent control of the North, if you don’t have any state in the South, you cannot make it,” he said.

The APC campaign chief also defended Tinubu’s performance since assuming office, insisting that the administration had made progress in addressing the challenges it inherited.

He said the ruling party would campaign on its record rather than promises, expressing confidence that its achievements would provide a basis for seeking another mandate.

“President Bola Tinubu, since the time he assumed office, has turned around the situation that he met on ground; still, the economy is moving,” Yari said.

“We are not promising. We are doing it, and we are going to continue.”

Yari was appointed Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council in August 2026 to coordinate the party’s mobilisation efforts ahead of Tinubu’s re-election bid.