Dutse Rally Soundbites: What Jigawa governor said about President Tinubu’s reelection, projects

Jigawa State Governor Umar Namadi has declared the total support of the state for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ahead of the 2027 general elections, promising a clean sweep for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) across all elective offices.

Speaking in Dutse at a combined event marking the commissioning of key developmental projects and the rollout of the APC’s 2027 presidential campaign activities, Governor Namadi reaffirmed that Jigawa stands firmly with the President’s economic and developmental agenda.

“By combining the launch of the 2027 APC Presidential Campaign Rally with the commissioning of projects of unprecedented magnitude, we are uniting political purpose with practical delivery,” Namadi said. “By the grace of Almighty Allah, the APC will secure a decisive, complete, and total victory for all its candidates from top to bottom — Daga Sama Har Kasa! APC Sak!”

Read below full speech by the Governor Umar Namadi

Your Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria;

Your Excellency, Senator Kashim Shettima, GCON, Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Your Excellencies, Visiting State Governors, and Deputy Governors;

The National Chairman and Leadership of our Great Party, the APC;

Distinguished Legislators, Honourable Ministers, and Members of Executive Councils here present;

Party Leaders, Stalwarts, Stakeholders, and Fellow Progressives;

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.

Mr President, on behalf of the Government, the peace-loving people of Jigawa State, and the teeming members of our great party, the All Progressives Congress, I extend our warmest welcome to you and your distinguished entourage. We are truly honoured and delighted by your presence at this historic gathering in Dutse.

Mr President, we are deeply grateful to you for graciously commissioning, earlier today, the landmark development projects executed by our administration for the benefit of our people. Your presence and personal commissioning of these projects lend special significance to these achievements and reinforce our shared commitment to improving lives through purposeful leadership and practical service. We sincerely thank you for sharing in this milestone and for the encouragement your visit gives us to sustain our efforts in building a more prosperous Jigawa State.

Today marks a defining moment in our history, which will be a reference date for future generations. By combining the launch of the 2027 APC Presidential Campaign Rally with the commissioning of projects of unprecedented magnitude, we are uniting political purpose with practical delivery. These events bring the perfect complementarity between the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda and our homegrown 12-Point Agenda for a Greater Jigawa into sharp focus. For us, aligning national priorities with local needs unites both agendas to boost productivity, improve livelihoods, and foster sustainable development and lasting prosperity across generations.

Mr President, beyond brotherhood and networks of relationships, we also measure genuine friendship in Jigawa State through an unwavering commitment to the well-being of our people. I proudly reaffirm that you have long been a true and steadfast friend of Jigawa. Your visionary leadership has strengthened our development strides and deeply reinforced the bond of trust between the federal government and our state.

Jigawa remembers your historic alliances, appreciates your dedication to developing our people, and stands shoulder to shoulder with you on this journey of national transformation. For this enduring commitment to our people, we will remain loyal and committed allies in the shared pursuit of a stronger Jigawa State and a more prosperous Nigeria guided by the manifesto of our great party, the APC.

This enduring friendship finds concrete expression in the array of federal projects and interventions across Jigawa State. Among these is the ongoing multi-billion-naira Greater Dutse Water Supply Project. I recall that, during the 2023 campaign, you made a solemn promise to our people and to our late Emir, Alhaji Nuhu Muhammad Sunusi (may his soul rest in peace). Today, this scheme, which languished on the drawing board for over a decade, is over 60% complete and bears eloquent testimony to your integrity. That solemn promise is becoming a reality. We therefore respectfully appeal to you, Mr President, to direct that implementation of this vital project be fast-tracked to ensure its timely completion.

Your Excellency’s commitment extends far beyond water infrastructure. When devastating floods threatened our communities, your prompt, compassionate intervention provided a vital lifeline, helping families and communities to rebuild. We see this support in the progress of the Kano–Katsina–Maradi Railway Line, unlocking our regional trade potential. Our fields have flourished through federal agricultural inputs, most notably the 100 tractors we procured at subsidised prices under your Food Security Support Intervention. In education, the establishment of the Federal College of Agriculture, Kirikasamma, and the Federal College of Education, Birniwa, under your watch is expanding vital horizons for the youth in Jigawa State and beyond.

We are equally grateful for the work advancing on the Gaya–Shuwarin–Azare and Kano–Gumel–Hadejia federal roads. On social protection, a remarkable 192,000 citizens in Jigawa State are receiving Federal Cash Transfers, with ₦14.36 billion disbursed from 2024 to date. Combined with your investments in infrastructure and agriculture, these efforts prove to every household that Jigawa’s progress is your progress.

Mr President, permit me to use this auspicious occasion to raise a critical matter of urgent concern to our people. This is the devastating challenge of erosion, which is fast devastating the landscape of several communities across Jigawa State. While the State Government has committed substantial resources over the years to combat this menace, the sheer scale of the ecological disaster far exceeds our local capacity. We therefore earnestly appeal for your administration’s urgent intervention and support to permanently safeguard our hardest-hit areas, most notably, Hadejia Metropolis, Dutse, Birnin Kudu, and Gwaram towns.

Secondly, Mr President, we highly appreciate the monumental progress being recorded on the ongoing Kano-Katsina-Maradi rail line and the highly anticipated connection coming to Dutse. As we celebrate these future-defining projects, we also plead for the immediate restoration of services along the historic Kano–Nguru Railway Line, which started operation almost a century ago. This corridor holds immense socio-economic significance and aligns perfectly with the Renewed Hope Agenda for Kano, Jigawa, and Yobe states. While we are actively engaging the Nigerian Railway Corporation, your presidential intervention is essential to fast-track the return of this vital service for our people.

Mr President, while we remain profoundly grateful for your invaluable support in providing subsidised agricultural machinery with improved access to high-quality inputs, we respectfully submit that incentives for large-scale local production may be weakened unless import tariff policies, particularly for wheat and rice, are carefully designed to protect our farmers from unfair competition. We therefore appeal to you to review these policies to strengthen incentives for domestic production and safeguard farmers’ livelihoods. Boosting local food production, especially wheat and rice, is essential to lasting food security and remains central to the Renewed Hope Agenda.

Mr President, these appeals reflect our shared concerns to improve lives and advance development. In that same spirit, let me therefore reiterate that our support for you is not merely political; it is developmental, strategic, and deeply rooted in a shared commitment to the well-being of our people and the progress of our nation. We recognise in you a nationalist and true patriot with the courage to make bold, difficult decisions in the best interest of the people and the nation. Your visionary reforms under the Renewed Hope Agenda are actively restoring macroeconomic stability, curbing systemic leakages, and strengthening public finances to pave the way for a more productive, self-reliant nation.

Mr President, Ladies and Gentlemen, permit me to take us on a brief journey down memory lane. I believe many of us will vividly remember the years 1999 to 2007, when Mr President was the Governor of Lagos State. Your courageous decisions then, driven by aggressive civil service modernization, strategic infrastructural expansion, and unprecedented revenue mobilization, saved Lagos from financial strangulation. As Governor then, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu governed Lagos with absolute excellence, even when local government allocations were unlawfully withheld. Today, as a direct result of that masterclass in financial engineering, Lagos State accounts for roughly one-quarter of Nigeria’s total GDP.

That historic feat was made possible because of your foundational leadership, and because every leader who succeeded you has been a proud product of your meticulous political mentorship and discipline. What you did to transform Lagos is exactly what you are doing for Nigeria today, putting our great nation on an upward development trajectory that will guarantee sustainable growth and economic dignity for generations of Nigerians. Another four years of this purposeful administration will cement these foundations and make our development journey completely irreversible, by the Grace of Almighty Allah.

We respect the sacrifices that Nigerians are making during this transition period. Our shared, sacred duty as leaders is to convert the hard-won gains of these structural reforms into affordable food, decent jobs, and better living standards. Thankfully, this is exactly what we witness daily in the concrete outputs of both the Renewed Hope Agenda and our 12-Point Agenda.

By inaugurating the Renewed Hope Technical Services Fabrication Centre, the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Multi-Purpose Skill Acquisition Centre, and the newly dualised Garu Road, alongside our launch today of 400 tractors and vital agricultural implements, you have brought our shared vision to life. This represents a deliberate, monumental investment in our people’s capacity to produce, earn, and prosper. It is the true trajectory of our administration, a development blueprint meant to institutionalise development, foster self-reliance, and unlock a Greater Jigawa where sustainable prosperity directly uplifts every household today, while securing a resilient future for generations yet unborn.

Mr President, esteemed Party Leaders, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen; let the message from Jigawa State today echo clearly across our nation; we are immensely grateful for, and completely satisfied with, your visionary leadership. Through your tireless efforts, you are driving the socioeconomic transformation of our country and restoring our national dignity, ensuring that Nigerians everywhere can stand tall and be proud of their country and heritage.

This is the message of hope and progress that we will continue to deliver to every household in Jigawa State. We promise you today, In Shaa Allah, that this unyielding commitment will translate into a resounding, sweeping victory for our Great Party, the APC, in the forthcoming elections. By the grace of Almighty Allah, the APC will secure a decisive, complete, and total victory for all its candidates from top to bottom – DAGA SAMA HAR KASA! APC SAK!

Welcome once again, Your Excellency, Mr President. We thank you for honouring Jigawa State with your presence and commend your commitment to serving our nation. We most profoundly appreciate you for sharing in our aspirations and renewing our resolve to turn the promise of a better tomorrow into meaningful progress for our people. Please accept the heartfelt gratitude and warm goodwill of the Government and people of Jigawa State. May Almighty Allah grant you more wisdom, strength, and good health as you serve our nation; May He guide your decisions, sustain you in the responsibilities of your high office, and grant you a safe journey home.

We also extend our heartfelt appreciation to His Excellency, the Vice President, Senator Kassim Shetima, their Excellencies, the visiting Governors and Deputy Governors, the National Chairman and leadership of our great party, and all party leaders, stalwarts, and distinguished guests who have graciously joined us on this historic and memorable occasion. Your presence has added warmth and distinction to this gathering, and we sincerely thank you for sharing in this special moment with the Government and people of Jigawa State.

May Jigawa State prosper. May Nigeria’s rise continue unabated, and may the promise we celebrate today become the progress our children inherit tomorrow.

Long live Jigawa State!
Long live the All Progressives Congress!
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!