…Unveils APC manifesto, promises improved welfare for security personnel, interest-free loans for farmers
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has reaffirmed his administration’s determination to defeat insecurity and strengthen the country’s security architecture, assuring Nigerians that sustained reforms, improved welfare and better remuneration for security personnel remain central to his government’s agenda.
The President gave the assurance on Tuesday during the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign rally at the Dutse Township Stadium in Jigawa State, where he addressed a mammoth crowd of party supporters and residents.
Tinubu said his administration was strengthening the armed forces and the Nigeria Police Force while improving their salaries and welfare to enhance their capacity to protect lives and property.
“I promise you, we are working hard to ensure that Nigeria is safe and our forces are well taken care of, regardless of where they come from.
“We will conquer insecurity. We’ve been through many wars. We will defeat our enemies. Enemies of unity, enemies of stability and enemies of hope. I assure you that we are doing that.
“We’re strengthening the police; we’re strengthening the armed forces. We are paying better salaries today,” the President stated.
At the rally, Tinubu also presented the APC campaign manifesto titled “From Reforms to Prosperity,” outlining his administration’s achievements, policy direction and future commitments in infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture, security and economic development.
He described the manifesto as a roadmap for consolidating ongoing economic reforms, expanding opportunities and delivering prosperity to Nigerians, promising to complete existing programmes and projects across the country.
Defending the removal of the petroleum subsidy, the President criticised opposition politicians advocating its restoration, describing their promises as deceptive and questioning the sustainability of such proposals.
According to him, savings from the subsidy removal have created the fiscal space for critical infrastructure and development projects across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.
“You have seen what we are doing. Across the country, no region is left behind. Those who think they should bring the subsidy back are liars.
“How will they pay for those commitments? How will you repair the roads? How will you maintain them? How will you function?” Tinubu queried.
On agriculture, the President pledged additional support for small-scale farmers through accessible financing, mechanisation and irrigation facilities, expressing confidence that the initiatives would strengthen food production and national food security.
“We will reward small-scale farmers. Interest-free loans for farmers are coming. Prosperity is coming. Food security will happen,” he assured.
Tinubu thanked the people of Jigawa State for their loyalty and support, urging them to sustain their commitment to the APC by voting for the party’s candidates at all levels in the forthcoming general elections.
Earlier, the President commissioned the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Multi-Purpose Skills Acquisition Centre and the Renewed Hope Technical Services Centre in Dutse. He also virtually commissioned the three-kilometre dualised Old Police Station–Palace Road.
In another major agricultural intervention, Tinubu commissioned 400 tractors and other farming equipment procured by the Jigawa State Government to promote mechanised agriculture, boost productivity and strengthen food sufficiency.
Speaking at the event, Governor Umar Namadi commended the President for his development initiatives in Jigawa State and other parts of Northern Nigeria.
He highlighted the Greater Hadejia Water Project, which he said was 60 per cent complete, the Katsina–Maradi rail line and various federal government interventions in education, agriculture and social welfare.
The governor particularly appreciated Tinubu for approving the establishment of Federal Colleges of Education in Dutse and Hadejia.
He also recalled the President’s promise during the 2023 election campaign to address the persistent water shortage in Dutse, made to the late Emir of Dutse, Dr Nuhu Muhammad Sunusi, noting that the approval of relevant interventions demonstrated the President’s commitment to fulfilling his promises.
Namadi further commended the establishment of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), through which thousands of students from Jigawa State have benefited, as well as the Conditional Cash Transfer programme, which has provided relief to vulnerable households.
However, the governor appealed for federal intervention in the ecological challenges confronting Dutse and Hadejia, describing the problems as increasingly overwhelming for the state government to address without federal assistance.
Vice President Kashim Shettima, in his remarks, urged the people of Jigawa to sustain their support for President Tinubu, recalling the President’s longstanding political relationships and contributions to the emergence of leaders from Northern Nigeria.
Shettima noted that Tinubu had supported the late President Muhammadu Buhari’s successful presidential campaigns in 2015 and 2019, as well as the presidential ambitions of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former EFCC Chairman Nuhu Ribadu.
He urged the people of Jigawa to reciprocate the President’s political support and commitment by voting for the APC in the 2027 general elections.
Also speaking, the Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, reiterated Tinubu’s commitment to purposeful leadership, economic consolidation and improved living standards for Nigerians.
Yari challenged opposition parties to present credible and superior socioeconomic alternatives to the administration’s policies rather than resorting to divisive political rhetoric.
Representing the Progressive Governors Forum, Sokoto State Governor, Dr Ahmed Aliyu, highlighted Tinubu’s longstanding political interventions and relationships with prominent Northern leaders.
He called on Nigerians, particularly voters in the North, to support what he described as a focused and determined leader whose bold economic and policy decisions had helped steer the country away from the brink of economic collapse.
The Deputy Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council and Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni, alongside the President’s Special Adviser on Political Affairs and Other Matters, Ibrahim Masari, also praised Tinubu’s leadership and urged party supporters to mobilise behind all APC candidates in the forthcoming elections.
They maintained that a strong electoral mandate would enable the administration to implement its manifesto and consolidate its development agenda.
The rally attracted several prominent political figures, including Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, APC governors, ministers and other party leaders from across the country.
