Tinubu to launch 2027 re-election campaign in Kaduna on 24 October

President Bola Tinubu will formally launch his 2027 re-election campaign in Kaduna on Saturday, 24 October 2026, the Director-General of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Abdulaziz Yari, said on Friday, 9 October 2026. Yari was speaking to State House correspondents after meeting the President at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Channels Television and Premium Times reported.

He said the campaign council would hold its inaugural meeting on Wednesday, 14 October, and that Tinubu had approved the party’s timetable of state visits.

The announcement puts a date on the ruling party’s main campaign push, 14 weeks before Nigerians vote. The presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for Saturday, 16 January 2027, under the timetable of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Voice of Nigeria and Premium Times reported. Where the candidates go, and what they say when they get there, will shape the choices voters face in the new year.

What did Yari say?

“The inaugural meeting is going to be done on the 14th of this month; that’s next Wednesday, at the State House Banquet Hall, and by God’s grace, on the 24th of October, we’re going to do our flag-off campaign in Kaduna,” Yari said, according to Channels Television.

“We have outlined our state visits to each and every place where we will go, and the president has approved them. So, we are going to hit the ground running by the 24th of October,” he added.

Port Harcourt in Rivers State and Maiduguri in Borno State are among the next stops after Kaduna, according to Channels Television, The Sun and Daily Trust. Yari said the full schedule would be published after the campaign council is inaugurated.

Yari, a former governor of Zamfara State, also argued that no candidate can win with one region alone. “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,” he said, as reported by Channels Television.

Who is Tinubu running against?

The main opposition candidates include former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Channels Television and The Whistler reported.

The ADC inaugurated its own presidential campaign council on Friday, 9 October, at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja, the Nigerian Tribune reported. Atiku’s running mate is Rotimi Amaechi, and the council is chaired by Kashim Ibrahim-Imam.

“Speak with respect. Listen with humility. Campaign with courage,” the ADC National Chairman, David Mark, told the candidates, according to the Tribune. Ibrahim-Imam said: “We have not come here to collect titles. We have come here to begin a rescue.”

How long can parties campaign?

Campaigns for the presidential and National Assembly elections opened on 19 August 2026 and must end on Friday, 15 January 2027, 24 hours before polling, according to the INEC timetable reported by Voice of Nigeria. Governorship and State House of Assembly elections follow on Saturday, 6 February 2027, with campaigns for those contests allowed from Wednesday, 9 September 2026.

The timetable follows the Electoral Act 2026, which says political campaigns may only begin 150 days before an election, the same report said.

What it means for you

If you plan to vote in January, check your details now. INEC’s display of the voter register ends on Thursday, 15 October, and our explainer shows how to check yours.

What happens next

The APC campaign council meets for the first time at the State House Banquet Hall in Abuja on Wednesday, 14 October. The party says its full schedule of state visits will follow, ahead of the Kaduna flag-off on Saturday, 24 October.

Watch for the dates of the other stops, and for the opposition parties’ own rally plans, as the campaign enters its final three months.