APC stakeholders in Zamfara State have unanimously endorsed President Tinubu and Governor Lawal for re-election, signaling the ruling party’s intent to dominate the 2027 electoral cycle.
The dual endorsement, which carries significant weight given Zamfara’s turbulent political history, was formalized in a communiqué issued at the close of the APC Zamfara State Stakeholders’ Meeting held on Friday, April 25, 2026, at the Government House in Gusau.
The gathering brought together party chieftains, elected officials, traditional voices, and grassroots operators, a broad coalition whose collective endorsement the party is eager to project as evidence of an undivided house.
It was the minister of state for defense, Bello Matawalle, who read the communiqué, a deliberate choice that was unlikely to be lost on political observers. Matawalle, a former governor of Zamfara State and a figure whose own political journey has been nothing short of dramatic, framed the endorsement in terms that were as much about party cohesion as electoral ambition.
“In a clear demonstration of unity, confidence, and strategic alignment, the meeting further resolved that the people of Zamfara State, in conjunction with the entire APC structure in the state, unequivocally support the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the forthcoming general elections,” Matawalle declared, his words carrying the unmistakable cadence of a party rallying its troops.
His choice of language, unity, confidence, and strategic alignment was pointed. For a state that has been a recurring theater of intra-party conflict, defections, and governance crises, these are not merely rhetorical flourishes. They are deliberate counternarratives to a history of political fractures that have repeatedly destabilized the APC’s grip on Zamfara.
Alongside the presidential endorsement, the stakeholders moved unanimously to back Governor Dauda Lawal for a second term in office, a declaration of loyalty that comes barely midway through his first tenure, underscoring the urgency with which the party is approaching 2027.
The communiqué cited Lawal’s “leadership style, reforms, and commitment to security stabilization, economic recovery, and sustainable development” as the basis for the early endorsement, a political report card of sorts that the governor’s camp will no doubt amplify in the months ahead.
The dual endorsement, according to the communiqué, was designed to consolidate ongoing gains, ensure continuity of governance, and strengthen what it described as the delivery of democratic dividends at both national and state levels, language that ties the governor’s fate directly to the performance narrative of the Tinubu administration.
No political gathering in Zamfara can proceed without confronting the elephant in the room, and this one was no different. The state remains one of Nigeria’s most affected by banditry and armed criminality, a crisis that has displaced thousands, disrupted livelihoods, and cast a long shadow over governance.
The stakeholders acknowledged these challenges frankly, resolving to strengthen collaboration between communities and security institutions while promoting intelligence sharing and civic responsibility as part of efforts to restore peace and stability. The language was measured, but the urgency beneath it was unmistakable.
For Governor Lawal, security is both his greatest political liability and his most important potential legacy. Any second-term bid will rise or fall significantly on whether residents feel meaningfully safer than they did in 2023. The endorsement, in this sense, is also an implicit political wager, a bet that the trajectory is moving in the right direction.
The most telling aspect of the communiqué was its extended emphasis on internal party discipline. The stakeholders went beyond the routine calls for unity, urging members to “shun divisive tendencies” and calling for “stronger conflict resolution mechanisms and broader stakeholder engagement.”
The meeting also resolved to work collectively towards the successful conduct of future party congresses and primary elections, stressing that all party processes must be peaceful, transparent, and inclusive.
Pledges to intensify grassroots mobilization across wards and local government areas and to align state-level policies with the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda rounded out a communiqué that was as much a party management document as a political declaration.
Zamfara’s early endorsement of Tinubu is likely to reverberate beyond its own borders. As one of the North-West’s key states, it feeds into the broader narrative that the presidency is keen to construct that the APC’s northern base remains solid despite economic headwinds and the pressures of ongoing reforms.
Whether the enthusiasm expressed in Government House on Friday will translate into votes at polling units in 2027 remains to be seen. In Nigerian politics, early endorsements are opening moves, not guarantees.
The real test, as stakeholders themselves implicitly acknowledged, lies in the security situation, the performance of the economy, and the party’s ability to manage its own internal contradictions before the campaign season begins in earnest.
For now, the APC in Zamfara has drawn its line in the sand early, loudly, and with deliberate intent.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
APC stakeholders in Zamfara State have formally endorsed President Tinubu and Governor Lawal for re-election in 2027, projecting a united front ahead of what promises to be a fiercely contested electoral cycle.
While the declaration is a significant early political signal, its true weight will ultimately be determined by two critical realities on the ground: whether Governor Lawal can deliver measurable security improvements in a state battered by banditry, and whether the Tinubu administration’s economic reforms translate into tangible relief for ordinary Zamfara residents.
