Speaking at the All Progressives Congress (APC ) north-west stakeholders’ meeting in Kaduna on Saturday, Sani said the zone, which was previously the epicentre of terrorism, banditry and kidnapping, has witnessed a significant turnaround.

“Before President Tinubu assumed office in 2023, the north-west zone was the epicentre of banditry, terrorism, kidnapping and other violent crimes,” he said.

“You could hardly travel from one place to another. Farmers could hardly access their farms. Life was indeed ‘nasty, short, and brutish’. At a point, the situation appeared hopeless. But two years in the saddle, the situation has changed.”

The governor, who also serves as the APC’s coordinating governor in the region, credited the improvement to the president’s commitment to reform and rural development.

“President Tinubu has not only stabilised the security situation, he has boosted agriculture in the north-west with the provision of farm inputs,” he added.

Sani also said the region has been handed key positions under Tinubu, citing the appointment of 12 federal ministers from the zone, the speaker of the house of representatives, the deputy senate president, and the chief of defence staff.

“There are many other important appointments which I may not be able to mention here because of time,” he said.

He listed ongoing infrastructure projects like the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano dual carriageway, the Birnin Gwari-Kaduna road, and the Jere-Kafanchan road, as further proof of the administration’s commitment to the region.

Other federal interventions, according to the governor, include the creation of the North West Development Commission, the N95 billion rehabilitation of three dams in Kano, and the establishment of the ministry of livestock development.

Sani also cited the creation of the Federal University of Applied Sciences in Kachia, Kaduna state; and the conversion of the Patrick Yakowa General Hospital, Kafanchan, to a federal medical centre.

“As things begin to pick up, the APC has become the choice destination for politicians and citizens generally,” he said.

He urged stakeholders to mobilise grassroots support for Tinubu’s re-election.

“We have in Mr. President a true father and friend. Let us therefore consolidate on our gains by mobilising our people to support Mr. President for a second term in office,” he noted.

“Tinubu on a mission to reinvent our economy, banish hunger and poverty, and return Nigeria to its rightful place in the comity of nations.”