Opinion
Renewed Hope @3: How Prof. Audi Abubakar’s NSCDC is Forging Nigeria’s Economic Defence
NSCDC Economic Defence Reform under Audi strengthens Nigeria’s critical infrastructure protection and boosts Renewed Hope economic security strategy
By Oladapo Sofowora
As President Bola Ahmed Tinubu marks three years at the nation’s helm as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; the “Renewed Hope” agenda has found one of its most reliable engines in the most unexpected of places, not in the marbled halls of policy think-tanks nor in the headline-grabbing press releases of the Presidency media team, but in the methodical, grinding and increasingly sophisticated operations of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), under the quiet but relentless command of Professor Ahmed Abubakar Audi mni OFR.
Also read: Renewed Hope Projects Transform Kano, Jigawa Communities
NSCDC has undergone a transformation so radical, so structural and so deeply embedded in the logic of modern security models that it has effectively redefined what it means to protect a nation in the 21st century with technology driven innovation.
Where the average citizen once saw a uniformed auxiliary force guarding public buildings, there now stands a technology-driven, intelligence-led and globally-aligned economic shield working assiduously in protecting critical infrastructure, combating economic saboteurs and also protecting our collective economic resources.
Audi has not merely reformed a government security agency; he has built a blueprint for how Nigeria can secure its commonwealth against the vandals, saboteurs and shadow economies that have, for decades, bled the nation dry.
The architecture of this transformation rests on three unshakable pillars: technological revolution, institutional specialization and grassroots intelligence integration.
Each has been executed with a focused precision that suggests Audi, an erudite scholar by training and a strategist by instinct.
The NSCDC head honcho understood from his first day in office that the old methods of analog patrols and reactive responses were doomed to fail against the sophisticated networks of oil thieves, illegal miners and infrastructure vandals.
His answer has been to digitize the Corps from the ground up and the evidence of this shift arrived in dramatic fashion in March 2026, when he unveiled and distributed what stands as the largest consignment of high-tech operational equipment in the Corps’ history.
All 36 state command including the FCT, received three aerial surveillance drones, night vision goggles that turn darkness into daylight and the true game-changer: operational backpacks fitted with mini-tablets, solar chargers, GPS trackers and situation room connectivity packs that allow commanders in Abuja to track the real-time movements of every patrol officer in the field .
For the first time in history, the vandal who digs up an armoured cable in a remote village at 2 a.m. is no longer anonymous; his location is triangulated, his movements logged and the nearest response unit is alerted before he can cart his haul onto a waiting truck.
This technological leap is not a vanity project.
It is a direct response to the brutal arithmetic of economic sabotage that has, for years, undermined the Renewed Hope mandate.
When President Tinubu spoke of revitalizing the solid minerals sector as a cornerstone of non-oil revenue, he was speaking into a vacuum of enforcement.
Illegal miners operated with impunity across the North-Central and North-Western belts, extracting gold, lithium, lead without licenses, without royalties and without any regard for environmental or labour laws .
The revenue from this sector languished at a meager N6 billion annually, a fraction of its true potential.
Audi’s answer was the creation of the Mining Marshals, a specialized unit within the NSCDC trained specifically for the unique challenges of securing extractive sites across the country.
The results have been nothing short of transformative. In the span of two years, the Marshals dismantled over 1,000 illegal mining sites, chased out the foreign-backed cartels that controlled them and restored order to a sector in chaos.
The Marshalls have secured legal convictions and have jailed those found culpable of economic sabotage.
The revenue from solid minerals royalties exploded from N6 billion to N38 billion, a sixfold increase that speaks directly to the economic logic of the Renewed Hope agenda under President Tinubu.
This is not security for its own sake; it is security as wealth creation, security as fiscal policy, security as the invisible hand that clears the path for legitimate commerce to flourish.
Yet the mining sector is only one theater in a multi-front war.
The oil and gas industry, the historic jugular of the Nigerian economy, has long been hemorrhaged by illegal refining and crude theft on an industrial scale.
Under Audi, the NSCDC has taken the fight into the creeks alongside with the NAVY and other relevant security agency with a ferocity that has surprised even seasoned observers.
The destruction of over 400 illegal refineries has been accompanied by the arrest of 4,677 suspected economic saboteurs and the securing of 638 convictions.
The NSCDC has become a nightmare for oil thieves.
They have become dreaded because of their intellegence gathering finesse and their sophisticated weapons and technology driven information gathering gadgets.
These are not the statistics of a passive agency waiting for crimes to be reported; they are the product of aggressive, intelligence-driven operations that combine the Corps’ own assets with strategic partnerships, including the controversial but effective collaboration with Tantita Security Services in the Niger Delta.
Where previous administrations debated the legality of private security involvement, Audi simply focused on the outcome which is to drastically reduced theft, increased crude production and a slow but steady reclamation of the nation’s stolen wealth.
But perhaps the most innovative aspect of Audi’s strategy and the one that will have the longest-lasting impact, is his understanding that no amount of drones or night vision goggles can succeed without the active participation of the Nigerian people.
Security, he has argued repeatedly, is not a monopoly of the state; it is a shared responsibility that begins in the village square and the market stall.
This philosophy has found concrete expression in the Corps’ grassroots engagement framework, launched first in Lagos State across all 50 divisions and now being replicated in other states.
The model is deceptively simple but operationally profound. Galvanizing traditional rulers, market leaders, youth groups, religious bodies and owners of critical infrastructure into a structured intelligence-sharing network.
By formalizing channels through which grassroots intelligence flows to the NSCDC, Audi has effectively multiplied the Corps’ eyes and ears by millions, turning ordinary citizens into active intels of the nation’s critical assets.
This community-driven approach has been further strengthened by the institutionalization of specialized units designed to address specific security gaps in the national architecture.
The Agro Rangers, for instance, have emerged as a critical force in the battle for food security, one of the most urgent priorities of the Renewed Hope mandate.
In Gombe State, the Corps recently commissioned a fully equipped Agro Rangers base at the Kanawa Forest Reserve, complete with residential facilities, solar power, and a motorised borehole, built in collaboration with the state government and the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACRESAL) project.
This is not a temporary outpost; it is a permanent statement of intent.
The Rangers stationed there have a clear mandate which is to effect zero encroachment, zero illegal logging and the mediation of farmer-herder conflicts before they escalate into a full blown communal violence.
By embedding security directly into the agricultural value chain, Audi has positioned the NSCDC as a guarantor of the nation’s food supply, protecting not just silos and ranches but the very livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers.
None of this institutional muscle would be possible, however, without a parallel commitment to the welfare and professionalism of the personnel who wear the uniform.
Audi, drawing on his academic background in public administration, understood early that a demoralized force is an ineffective force.
He moved aggressively to clear backlogs of unpaid salary arrears and stagnated promotions, addressing grievances that had festered for years and sapped the Corps of its fighting spirit.
Simultaneously, he launched a sweeping ethical crackdown, warning that the new equipment and elevated status would be accompanied by zero tolerance for indiscipline, misconduct or the diversion of operational assets for personal gain.
The message has been consistent and unmistakable; the NSCDC has transitioning from a volunteer paramilitary organization to a professional security service bound by a clear code of conduct, standard operating procedures and a performance management framework that rewards results and punishes deviance.
The ambition, however, extends far beyond Nigeria’s borders. Audi has positioned the NSCDC as a regional leader in security sector reform and the recent validation of the Corps’ revised Gender Policy II, supported by the UK Commonwealth and Development Office through the SPRiNG Programme, underscores this global orientation.
The policy, scheduled for launch in 2026, mainstreams gender-responsive leadership, strengthens disability inclusion, and aligns the Corps with Nigeria’s Third National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security.
The deployment of Female Special Squads to vulnerable schools, which has already thwarted 48 planned kidnap attempts, is a direct operational outcome of this policy orientation.
It reflects a sophisticated understanding that security in the modern era is not merely about firepower but about inclusivity, about bringing all segments of society into the protective embrace of the state.
The most recent manifestation of Audi’s digital transformation agenda came in June 2026, just days ago, when the Corps launched a strategic capacity-building programme focused on research methodology and operational excellence.
For two days in Abuja, officers from all 36 state commands and the Federal Capital Territory gathered to be trained not in weapons handling or riot control, but in data analysis, strategic communication and evidence-based threat assessment.
The message from the Commandant General was unambiguous; the future of security belongs to those who can analyze trends, interpret intelligence and develop research-driven solutions to emerging threats.
The induction of Critical Thinking, Research and Innovation desk officers across all commands signals a permanent institutional shift toward a knowledge-driven security culture, one where the officer with a laptop and a hypothesis is as valuable as the officer with a rifle and a patrol vehicle.
As President Tinubu’s administration looks toward the horizon, the transformation of the NSCDC under Professor Audi Abubakar offers a powerful template for how Nigeria can secure its economic future.
The Corps has moved from the periphery to the center, from a reactive guard force to a proactive intelligence-led enforcer, from an analog relic to a digital vanguard.
It has demonstrated, through verifiable results, that protecting critical infrastructure is not a cost to be managed but an investment to be optimized.
Every illegal refinery destroyed, every illegal mining site dismantled, every kilometer of pipeline secured and every agro-ranger base commissioned represents a brick in the wall of Nigeria’s economic sovereignty.
The commonwealth of the nation, long treated as a common quarry for thieves and saboteurs, is finally being defended with the seriousness it deserves.
Professor Audi has not just restructured a security agency; he has redefined the very meaning of national security, proving that in the struggle for Nigeria’s soul, the battle for its pipelines, its mines, its farms and its cables is the battle to ensure that Renewed Hope becomes a reality.
The vandals are on notice.
The era of impunity is ending and the NSCDC, under the steady hand of its scholar-commander, stands ready to enforce the peace that Nigeria’s prosperity demands.
From all Indication, Prof Audi’s approach has helped highlight and turned a beam light to the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope mandate inline with the security of lives and property which the NSCDC is not taking the back seat on.
Also read: Eid-el-Fitr: Obasa Makes Strong Appeal for Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Plan
The Corp is working round the clock to ensure the presidential mandate is upheld at the highest professional level and also ensuring that the force is leading in its core mandate and also contributing to the economic development of Nigeria on a larger scale.
By Nosa Osaikhuiwu,
Nigeria’s teeming population should be viewed not as a burden but as an enormous economic asset that can and must be harnessed for national economic transformation and sustainable development.
Also read: South African Businesses Struggle as Foreign Workers and Traders Leave
With a population already exceeding 200 million and projected to approach 300 million by the end of the century, Nigeria cannot afford to continue responding only to the challenges of today. We must begin implementing policies that anticipate the economic, social and employment challenges of tomorrow.
One of Nigeria’s most urgent challenges is unemployment, particularly among young people. This problem affects both graduates and the much larger segment of our population without formal education or marketable technical skills. The fundamental question, therefore, is not simply how government can create jobs, but how government can create the economic conditions under which millions of sustainable jobs can be created by the private sector.
Recognizing the Necessary Economic Reforms
Before addressing job creation, it is important to acknowledge some of the major economic reforms undertaken by the current administration.
While these policies have been unpopular in some quarters and have imposed significant hardship on households and businesses, the removal of fuel subsidies and the move toward greater alignment of foreign-exchange rates were, in my view, necessary steps toward restoring some degree of economic stability.
The manner and timing of implementation can certainly be debated. However, it is difficult to dispute that maintaining a system in which government could no longer sustainably finance fuel subsidies, while simultaneously maintaining significant distortions in the foreign-exchange market, was becoming increasingly untenable.
The immediate consequences have been severe for millions of Nigerians. Nevertheless, if these reforms are properly managed and followed by policies that stimulate production, investment and employment, Nigeria can ultimately emerge stronger.
However, some of the noise in some political quarters about reversing the fuel subsidy removal is not only disingenuous, it is playing to the gallery of public sentiments which betrays a lack of seriousness on their part.
The next phase, therefore, must be about growth, production and job creation. Manufacturing Is Essential: But Manufacturing Alone Is Not Enough
I strongly agree with the position repeatedly expressed by Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote that manufacturing is critical to job creation in Nigeria.
Manufacturing creates direct employment in factories, but its impact extends far beyond the factory floor. It creates demand for raw materials, transportation, logistics, warehousing, engineering, maintenance, packaging, distribution, financial services and countless other activities.
However, I would take this argument one step further, because a sustainable manufacturing industry requires demand.
A factory can produce thousands of beds, furniture sets, refrigerators, or other locally manufactured products, but production cannot continue indefinitely if consumers lack the purchasing power to buy those products. This is where government policy must become more sophisticated.
Rather than government attempting to employ everyone directly, it should create an economic environment in which production generates employment and employment generates purchasing power, which in turn creates demand for more production. That is the economic cycle Nigeria must deliberately build.
Creating a National Credit Economy
One of the most powerful instruments available to us is a properly regulated consumer and business credit system. In advanced economies, access to responsible credit has played an important role in improving living standards and expanding economic activity.
Consumers do not necessarily have to possess the full amount of money required to purchase a house, vehicle, furniture or other durable goods before making the purchase.
Properly structured credit allows them to acquire those goods today and pay over time. That creates immediate demand for manufactured products.
The manufacturer receives payment. The factory continues producing. Workers retain their jobs. Suppliers receive orders. Transporters move products.
Financial institutions earn interest. Government receives taxes. Employees spend their income elsewhere in the economy. One transaction can therefore generate an economic chain far larger than the original purchase.
The Following Steps Are Essential
- Establish a Unified National Database
Nigeria needs a comprehensive national database integrating biometric information and a unique National Identification Number for every citizen and legally resident person. A reliable identity infrastructure is fundamental to modern financial services, taxation, credit assessment, social programs and economic planning.
- Reform the Credit Bureau System
Credit bureau legislation should be strengthened and modernized, allowing banks and regulated financial institutions to play a greater role in developing a robust credit-information ecosystem, subject to strong government regulatory oversight. Every Nigerian who participates in the formal financial system should gradually develop a verifiable credit history. Good financial behavior should have benefits. Persistent default should have consequences.
- Accelerate the Transition to a Cashless Economy
Nigeria should establish a realistic but ambitious transition toward a predominantly cashless economy within 36 months. This should not be about punishing Nigerians who use cash. It should be about creating a transparent, traceable and efficient financial system that reduces the size of the informal cash economy and makes it easier to assess income, spending, creditworthiness and tax obligations.
- Gradually Restrict Excessive Cash Transactions
Government should consider progressively restricting large cash withdrawals and transactions, with appropriate exemptions for legitimate businesses and special circumstances. Such a policy must, however, be carefully designed so that it does not inadvertently harm small businesses or citizens who remain outside the formal banking system. The objective should be financial inclusion and transparency, not financial exclusion.
- Expand Consumer and Manufacturer Financing
Legislation and regulation should facilitate financing arrangements through which manufacturers can sell locally produced goods to consumers on credit while financial institutions assume and manage the repayment risk. Imagine a Nigerian family being able to purchase locally manufactured furniture, beds, household appliances or other durable goods and pay over 12, 24 or 36 months.
The manufacturer gets paid.
The consumer gets the product.
The bank earns legitimate interest.
The factory continues producing.
Workers remain employed.
And the economy expands.
This is the kind of demand-induced economic growth Nigeria should pursue.
But Credit Requires Culture Change
There is, however, a major obstacle to implementing such a system in Nigeria. Credit cannot function effectively without trust, integrity and a culture of repayment.
This brings us directly to what I have identified in my previous writings as the QUAD – four interconnected cultural problems that continue to undermine Nigeria’s development:
- Unethical behavior
- Greed
- Lack of integrity
- Permissiveness—the “Oga Abeg” culture
Too many Nigerians have historically viewed loans and government-supported credit schemes as free money that should not necessarily be repaid. That mindset must change.
If a person obtains a bank loan to purchase locally manufactured furniture, a vehicle, equipment or other goods, repayment is not optional. It is a contractual obligation. Failure to repay should affect the individual’s ability to access future financial services.
A properly integrated financial architecture should ensure that a poor credit record follows a borrower across regulated financial institutions and digital financial platforms, subject to due process and appropriate consumer protections.
Banks, fintech companies and regulated payment platforms should be able to participate in a credible national credit-information ecosystem.
But this cannot be achieved through regulation alone. Nigeria needs a massive national public-awareness campaign on the meaning of credit, contractual obligations and financial responsibility. This is another example of why economic transformation without culture change will remain incomplete.
Rethinking Youth Employment
We cannot continue producing millions of graduates who are jobless while simultaneously importing technicians and skilled workers and leaving young Nigerians without practical skills or employment opportunities.
The recent initiative by the Federal Government of Nigeria under the Tinubu/Shettima Administration to reform the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is commendable.
However, the reform of the NYSC will be incomplete if it does not transition NYSC into a National Skills and Apprenticeship Program that will help train and equip our young men and women with skills that will help them earn a living as entrepreneurs or be gainfully employed.
Nigeria must also rethink the purpose of education. I would advocate an optional SECOND year of National Service dedicated specifically to skills acquisition and apprenticeship.
Young Nigerians could receive structured training in areas such as:
- Automobile technology and diagnostics
- Electrical installation and maintenance
- Construction management
- Fashion and design
- Collision repair and auto bodywork
- Agriculture and poultry operations
- Welding and fabrication
- Firefighting and emergency services
- Computer hardware and maintenance
- Software development
- App development
- Coding and programming
- Artificial intelligence
- Renewable energy technology
- Plumbing
- Refrigeration and air-conditioning
- Industrial maintenance
The program should be developed in partnership with private-sector employers, manufacturers, technical institutions and professional bodies.
At the end of the program, participants should receive a nationally recognized industry certification demonstrating basic professional competence.
This would transform NYSC from merely a national service program into a major national workforce-development and apprenticeship system.
The Automobile Sector Alone Offers Enormous Opportunities
Consider the automobile sector. Nigeria has millions of vehicles on the road, yet many mechanics operate without formal training. At the same time, modern vehicles are increasingly computerized and technologically sophisticated.
The mechanic of tomorrow will need to understand electronics, diagnostics, computer systems, sensors and software, not merely engines and mechanical components.
A national automotive apprenticeship program could therefore create hundreds of thousands of skilled technicians over time while reducing dependence on foreign expertise.
The same principle applies to virtually every technical occupation. Nigeria does not have a shortage of work. Nigeria has a shortage of properly organized opportunities to convert work into productive employment and enterprise.
Ethanol: Turning Agriculture into Energy and Employment
Another opportunity lies in the development of an ethanol-blended fuel program. Nigeria should seriously consider adopting a national ethanol-blending policy, potentially beginning with a 10 percent blend and progressively evaluating higher blends based on technical and economic feasibility. Such a policy could stimulate demand for cassava, maize and other suitable feedstocks.
That demand would create opportunities for farmers, agricultural aggregators, and brokers, processing companies, logistics operators, transporters, equipment suppliers and storage facilities.
The economic impact would therefore extend far beyond the ethanol plant itself. Rather than importing every unit of energy we consume, Nigeria could create a domestic agricultural-energy value chain.
With the right policies, this could generate substantial employment over time. The precise number of jobs should, of course, be determined through detailed feasibility studies, but the principle is compelling: energy policy can simultaneously become agricultural policy, industrial policy and employment policy.
Security and Employment
Nigeria’s security crisis also requires a fundamentally different approach. We need to build a much stronger human-intelligence capability at the community level.
A large national network of trained intelligence personnel could provide communities, security agencies and government with timely information about criminal activity, kidnapping networks, banditry and terrorism.
Such a program would need to be carefully structured, professionally trained, legally regulated and integrated with existing security agencies. It must not become an uncontrolled vigilante system.
The objective should be to create a professional intelligence architecture in which ordinary citizens can become an additional source of reliable information for national security.
Security itself can therefore become an area of structured employment while simultaneously strengthening the country’s ability to prevent crime.
Government Should Stop Trying to Be the Entrepreneur
Another important component of Nigeria’s economic transformation should be a gradual reduction in government’s ownership and management of commercial enterprises.
Government’s principal responsibility should be to provide:
- Clear regulations
- Infrastructure
- Security
- Efficient taxation
- Reliable identity systems
- Access to finance
- Fair competition
- Effective institutions
The private sector should increasingly be allowed to serve as the primary engine of production, innovation and employment. Government does not have to own every factory in order to create jobs. It needs to create the enabling environment in which thousands of factories can be profitably established and operated by Nigerians and investors.
Thus, I recommend that the Tinubu/Shettima Administration completely privatize the NNPCL refineries and if there no takers decommission them as they have become a source waste, fraud and abuse.
Affordable Housing as an Economic Engine
Housing provides another powerful example of demand-induced growth. Nigeria should develop long-term mortgage financing, initially targeting public servants such as police officers and members of the armed forces, with mortgage payments deducted directly from salaries.
A properly structured 10 to 15-year mortgage scheme could allow workers to acquire homes while creating demand across an enormous range of industries.
A single housing project requires:
- Cement
- Steel
- Doors and windows
- Electrical equipment
- Plumbing materials
- Tiles
- Furniture
- Roofing materials
- Engineering services
- Architects
- Surveyors
- Lawyers
- Transporters
- Laborers
- Security services
Housing finance therefore does much more than provide shelter. It creates an economic ecosystem. Once properly established and proven, such schemes could be expanded to the wider population, with government providing the regulatory framework while private financial institutions and developers provide the capital and expertise.
The Bigger Picture
Nigeria’s unemployment problem cannot be solved by government simply announcing another recruitment exercise. Nor can it be solved by distributing temporary cash transfers indefinitely.
We need to create an economic system in which people have the skills to work, businesses have the capacity to produce, consumers have the purchasing power to buy, financial institutions can responsibly provide credit, and borrowers understand that credit must be repaid.
That requires simultaneous reforms in education, finance, manufacturing, agriculture, energy, housing, security and culture.
Most importantly, it requires a change in mindset. We must move away from the belief that government is responsible for providing everything and toward a system in which government creates the conditions for citizens and businesses to become productive economic participants.
Nigeria’s population should not frighten us, but should inspire us. Two hundred million Nigerians represent two hundred million potential consumers, workers, entrepreneurs, farmers, engineers, technicians, inventors and business owners.
If properly educated, properly organized and connected to functioning markets and financial systems, this population can become one of Nigeria’s greatest economic advantages.
But population alone is not an asset. A productive population is an asset. And productivity requires skills, integrity, and access to capital, infrastructure, security and demand.
That is why Nigeria’s next economic strategy should not focus exclusively on increasing production. We must also deliberately create the purchasing power that sustains production.
The objective should be simple:
Produce more.
Buy more.
Employ more.
Earn more.
Invest more.
Produce even more.
That is the cycle of demand-induced economic growth that Nigeria must build. And ultimately, none of these reforms will be sustainable without the cultural transformation that underpins them.
Economic transformation requires culture change. Without ethics, integrity, responsibility and a rejection of the “Oga Abeg” mentality, even the best economic policies will continue to produce disappointing results.
Also read: South African Businesses Struggle as Foreign Workers and Traders Leave
Nigeria therefore needs not merely a new economic policy.
Nigeria needs a new economic culture.
By Seun Oloketuyi,
Former Kogi State Governor Alhaji Yahaya Bello believes one of the biggest lessons from his political experience is that money alone does not win elections. For him, where that money is directed can make all the difference.
Also read: Gbenga Daniel Urges Stronger Security at Freedom Online 7th Annual Lecture
Bello shares this perspective in Seun Oloketuyi’s forthcoming book, How to Win an Election in Nigeria, where he reflects on the political strategy behind his electoral successes in Kogi State.
According to him, campaigns should focus less on handing money directly to voters and more on building a strong political structure capable of mobilising support at the grassroots. “Fund your structure, not the voter’s pocket,” Bello said.
He argued that last-minute cash distribution should not be mistaken for a winning strategy, stressing that genuine political strength is built long before election day.
For Bello, the people and networks supporting a candidate are more important than simply having money to spend when voting is around the corner.
His experience in Kogi, he said, showed the importance of having a well-organised structure that could translate political support into actual votes.
Bello’s reflections offer a different perspective on the role of money in Nigerian elections, particularly the difference between spending to build political strength and spending simply to influence voters at the last minute.
Also read: Gbenga Daniel Urges Stronger Security at Freedom Online 7th Annual Lecture
More of his thoughts on electoral strategy, grassroots politics and the lessons from his years in Kogi politics are featured in Seun Oloketuyi’s How to Win an Election in Nigeria, scheduled for release on September 6.
Opinion
The Zamfara Masterminds: Loyalty, Structure and the Unstoppable Engine of the 2027 APC Campaign
By Adeola Agoro,
When in 2011 Abdulaziz Yari became the governorship candidate for the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in Zamfara State just after one term of Alhaji Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi, many political observers were not surprised.
Also read: Governor Dauda Lawal woos investors, highlights Zamfara’s economic opportunities at CEO Forum
Although Mahmud Shinkafi, former deputy governor to His Excellency Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima was one of the few deputy governors to ever be solidly supported by their former bosses to succeed them in 2007, political realignments and party shifts altered the dynamic relationship after a short while in office.
So it was no surprise when Abdulaziz Yari, a deeply loyal protégé and key political strategist of Yerima got the party ticket and won the Zamfara governorship election in April 2011.
Over the years, both Yerima and Yari have worked together to make the state a formidable political stronghold and a reference point for administrative continuity.
Unlike most states carved out of older states, which often grapple with initial structural hurdles, Zamfara State, since its creation from the old Sokoto State in October 1996 and its democratic consolidation under Senator Yerima’s pioneer executive tenure starting in 1999, has continued to stand tall and maintain a distinct, independent presence on the political map of Nigeria.
The Political Strengths of Yerima and Yari
Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima (The Godfather & Stakeholder Mobilizer): A consummate strategist and the undisputed patriarch of grassroots mobilization in Northern Nigeria, Yerima’s ability to build bridges across political, traditional and religious institutions gives him an extraordinary capacity to unite diverse interest groups and command deep-rooted loyalty at ground zero.
Senator Abdulaziz Yari (The Master Tactical Administrator & DG): A seasoned political organizer who served as ANPP State Chairman, House of Representatives member, two-term Governor of Zamfara State (2011–2019) and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Yari brings fierce operational discipline, tactical executive coordination and national consensus-building skills to the table.
That both men who are undisputed political gladiators are now positioned at the core of the 2027 APC Presidential Campaign Council, with His Excellency Senator Abdulaziz Yari serving as Director-General and His Excellency Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima serving as Stakeholder Mobilizer, is a masterstroke in political planning, strategic alignment and electoral organization.
To understand the political weight behind the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, one must look at the unique narrative of Zamfara State – a political domain built on deep-rooted loyalty, strategic leadership and administrative continuity.
When the political landscape was redrawn during Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999, Zamfara stood ready to chart its own course.
Under the executive leadership of His Excellency, Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima, the state established a distinct identity, proving that it could stand tall, independent and politically formidable on the national stage.
The Unbroken Bond
Long before stepping into executive leadership, Abdulaziz Yari had built a reputation as an exceptionally loyal party administrator and key strategist.
Throughout these roles, Yari viewed Yerima not just as a leader, but as a political mentor.
Unlike many political dynamics across the country where mentor-protégé relationships fray over time, the bond between Yerima and Yari has remained unbroken.
Their connection is built on deep-rooted mutual respect: Yari has consistently maintained absolute loyalty to his mentor, while Yerima has always respected Yari’s sharp administrative mind and organizational capacity.
A Strategic Masterstroke for 2027
Today, the inclusion of these two formidable leaders at the core of the APC Presidential Campaign Council brings that exact same spirit of loyalty, structure and strategic brilliance to the national stage.
With His Excellency, Senator Abdulaziz Yari bringing his tactical discipline, administrative efficiency and nationwide consensus-building skills to the campaign as Director-General and His Excellency, Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima deploying his legendary grassroots influence and bridge-building capabilities as Stakeholder Mobilizer, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election campaign possesses an unbeatable leadership engine.
While Yari coordinates the national operational machinery as Campaign DG, Yerima engages high-level stakeholders, political blocs, traditional institutions and grassroots groups across all 36 states.
Their combined track record, vast national networks and deep popularity bring an unbeatable structural shield to the presidential campaign, guaranteeing a sweeping, decisive victory for the APC.
Also read: Governor Dauda Lawal woos investors, highlights Zamfara’s economic opportunities at CEO Forum
Their story stands as living proof that when loyalty, strength, administrative genius and mutual respect come together, political success naturally follows.
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