Ahead of the 2027 general elections, Director-General of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, yesterday led a high-powered delegation of party leaders on consultations with prominent Muslim clerics across the northern states.

The consultations took the delegation through Plateau, Bauchi, Kaduna and Kano states, where the APC leaders engaged Islamic scholars and leaders of major Muslim movements, including Izala, Tijjaniyya, Jama’atu Izalatil Bid’ah Wa Iqamatis Sunnah (JIBWIS) and Qadiriyya.

Yari, a former governor of Zamfara State, was accompanied by former Kano State governor and former APC National Chairman, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje; former Kebbi State governor, Senator Adamu Aliero; Senator Nasiru Sani Zangon Daura; APC National Secretary, Senator Ajibola Bashiru; and former Borno State governor, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff.

Also on the delegation were Honourable James Abiodun Faleke and former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase.

The consultations, according to the delegation, were part of efforts to engage faith-based stakeholders on national issues and strengthen dialogue with religious leaders ahead of the 2027 elections.

The exercise commenced in Jos, Plateau State, where Yari and his team were received by Sheikh Sani Yahaya Jingir, Chairman of the Council of Ulama of JIBWIS.

The delegation subsequently moved to Bauchi, where it met with Sheikh Ibrahim Dahiru Bauchi, Khalifa of the Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi Zawiya.

Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi offered prayers for President Bola Tinubu and urged the government to sustain dialogue with religious leaders and communities beyond election periods.

He stressed the importance of making engagement between the state and religious communities continuous rather than seasonal.

In Kaduna, Yari held extensive discussions with Sheikh Abdullahi Bala Lau, National Chairman of a JIBWIS faction, on issues ranging from insecurity and economic hardship to the need to sustain mutual trust among communities of different ethnic and religious backgrounds.

Bala Lau commended Yari for reaching out to the religious community but urged political leaders at all levels to listen more attentively to the people and communicate with them with sincerity.

The delegation later proceeded to Kano, where Yari met with the leader of the Qadiriyya movement, Sheikh Qaribullahi Nasiru Kabara.

Kabara offered special prayers for peace in Nigeria and for the success of the delegation’s consultations, while urging the APC leaders to take the message of unity to communities across the country.

The consultations come amid intensified political mobilisation ahead of the 2027 elections, with the APC and opposition groups stepping up engagements with religious, community and other influential stakeholders across the country.

The meetings also provided an opportunity for the APC delegation to hear concerns from religious leaders on security, economic hardship, national cohesion and the relationship between government and communities as political parties prepare for the next electoral contest.