Retired General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, one of Nigeria’s most influential elder statesmen, has led a high-powered delegation of leaders from the Middle Belt and North-Central to President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. The visit, which included two serving governors and a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, is being read as a significant boost for the President’s 2027 re-election campaign in a region that has often been decisive in national elections.
The meeting was disclosed in a statement by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, according to Premium Times. The Sun reported that the meeting took place on Thursday, while the Presidency’s statement was issued on Friday.
Who Was in the Room
According to Premium Times, the delegation included the Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (retd.); Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang; Taraba State Governor Agbu Kefas; former Speaker Yakubu Dogara; former Chief of Army Staff, General Ishaya Bamaiyi; businessman Thomas Etuh; and Dr Poju Bitrus.
The Sun also listed the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, among those present. Both newspapers agree that the group was led by Danjuma, a former Chief of Army Staff and former Minister of Defence.
The presence of Mutfwang and Kefas is notable. Both governors were elected in 2023 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and their attendance at a meeting framed around support for the President underlines how political alignments in the region have shifted ahead of 2027.
Dogara: “We Came to Show Solidarity”
Speaking to State House correspondents after the meeting, Dogara said the delegation had come to show solidarity with the President and to discuss how best to help mobilise support for him, The Sun reported. He pledged to work at the grassroots for Tinubu’s re-election.
The former Speaker also credited the administration with progress on security. While stopping short of declaring victory, he said there had been a marked decline in insecurity across parts of the region. He cited the Abuja–Kaduna corridor, where a passenger train was attacked in 2022, as an example of improvement, and praised the appointment of people from affected communities into key security positions. He urged the government to sustain those interventions.
Governor Mutfwang said leaders in Plateau were working to rebuild trust across ethnic and religious lines, and that young people were beginning to engage each other even without government prompting. “Once people begin to see that kind of cohesion among leaders, it inspires them,” he said, according to The Sun.
Why Danjuma’s Visit Matters
Danjuma, now in his late 80s, is a towering figure in Nigerian public life. A veteran of the civil war era, he served as Chief of Army Staff in the 1970s and as Minister of Defence under President Olusegun Obasanjo. He has since become one of the country’s best-known philanthropists through his foundation.
He is also known for blunt public statements on insecurity. In 2018 he famously urged Nigerians to defend themselves against armed attacks, accusing the armed forces of failing to protect communities in the Middle Belt. His appearance at the head of a pro-Tinubu delegation therefore carries symbolic weight in a region where farmer-herder violence and attacks on rural communities remain deeply sensitive political issues.
The Presidency did not disclose the full agenda of the meeting or any resolutions reached, Premium Times noted.
The Bigger 2027 Picture
The meeting comes amid intense political activity ahead of the 2027 general elections. Tinubu flagged off his re-election campaign in Kaduna last month and has since been courting stakeholders across the country. Opposition parties are also mobilising, with the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) fielding Peter Obi, while the African Democratic Congress (ADC) is battling in court over its leadership and presidential ticket.
The North-Central and the Middle Belt states, including Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa, Kwara, Kogi, Niger and Taraba, are widely seen as a swing bloc. Winning the backing of respected elders and sitting governors there could help the President consolidate support beyond the APC’s traditional strongholds.
What Happens Next
Shortly after the meeting, the President left Abuja for a two-day visit to Akwa Ibom and Rivers states, where he is commissioning projects and attending APC rallies. Dogara’s pledge suggests that the leaders who visited the Villa will now take the campaign to their communities, though it remains to be seen how far their influence will translate into votes in a region with a strong record of independent voting.
Sources: Premium Times, The Sun, The Guardian (Nigeria).
