…Centre cites Tinubu’s infrastructure drive, local government autonomy and development commissions; plans to mobilise five million votes and roll out cooperatives across 4,611 wards in Northern Nigeria
By Hassan Hussain
The Centre for Northern Awareness and Development, CENAD, has endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as its preferred presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections, following a research conducted across the nineteen Northern States and the Federal Capital Territory.
The Chairman, Board of Trustees of CENAD, Comrade Ismaila Aruwa, disclosed this at a media conference in Abuja where the organisation unveiled its preferred candidates for the presidency, eighteen governorship, fifty-eight senatorial and one hundred and ninety-one House of Representatives seats across Northern Nigeria.
Comrade Aruwa said the research covered four hundred and nineteen Local Government Areas and was aimed at identifying candidates preferred by the people, irrespective of political party affiliation.
He said respondents cited President Tinubu’s commitment to local government autonomy, investments in critical infrastructure and the establishment of the Ministry of Livestock Development, as well as the North Central and North West Development Commissions, as reasons for their preference.
Other reasons, according to CENAD, include the construction of major road and rail projects, the establishment of new military divisions in Makurdi, Ilorin and Jalingo, the National Guarantee Company Limited and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND.
The CENAD Chairman said the organisation would leverage its membership across ninety-seven thousand polling units in Northern Nigeria to mobilise what it described as five million votes for President Tinubu, while also supporting other candidates identified as preferred by their constituents.
Comrade Aruwa also announced the flag-off of the establishment and registration of multipurpose cooperative societies across the four thousand six hundred and eleven wards in Northern Nigeria.
He explained that the initiative was designed to promote economic prosperity and enable beneficiaries to access grants and loans from government and non-governmental funding institutions, locally and internationally.
He said CENAD had already facilitated the registration of two multipurpose cooperative societies in Kogi and Taraba States as pilot schemes.
The organisation described itself as a regional, non-religious and non-ethnic pro-development body committed to promoting unity, peace and peaceful coexistence among Nigerians.
Comrade Aruwa said CENAD would soon publish the full list of its preferred presidential, gubernatorial, senatorial and House of Representatives candidates in a full-page advertorial, adding that its national leadership would visit the nineteen Northern States and the FCT to decorate awardees and present certificates of final endorsement to the preferred candidates.
