By Editor
A political rally in Zamfara meant to celebrate Senator Abdulaziz Yari’s appointment as Director-General of President Bola Tinubu’s reelection campaign ended in an unexpected chorus on Tuesday night, with portions of the crowd reportedly chanting “Sai Atiku” instead of APC slogans.
The incident, first posted on ₦airaland Forum at 10:53pm on September 2, has since drawn 3,335 views and dozens of heated comments as Nigerians debate what it signals for 2027.
The gathering was organized by Yari to appreciate President Tinubu for naming him DG of the campaign. According to the original poster, “Penguin2,” organizers shared only pictures of the event because the audio did not match the occasion. “The crowd was heard chanting ‘Sai Atiku’ instead of chanting APC slogans,” the post read, ending with the question: “Will Tinubu’s DG deliver his state at this point?”
Within hours, the thread split into two sharply opposed camps. Several commenters who said they watched the video insisted the chant was “loud and clear.” User “BrokenTV” wrote at 5:14am that after seeing claims of “fake news,” he was “forced to watch the video, Sai Atiku was loud and clear. Tinubu is going no where, Tinubu government is nothing but a disaster.” Others linked the moment to wider dissatisfaction in the North.
That dissatisfaction was a recurring theme. “Typing” claimed at 6:50am that “Tinubu has no place in the North on this 2027 election. The North voted him enmas in 2023, but Tinubu failed us. This time around over 95% of our votes goes for Atiku. We go collect Tinubu money and still vote him out.” “matrix199” added a personal note at 7:38am: “I don’t have food at home, no job, no light, can’t afford my rent, and you expect me to support the reelection of the president who damaged the economy? How!”
The “fake news” rebuttal was just as forceful. “yarimo” dismissed the clip at 12:20am, warning “nairalanders don’t click any video nothing like that in the video.” “seunmsg” went further at 7:41am, asking, “Do they need to tell you that was deep fake?” The counter-accusation quickly became personal, with “AMINDA” posting what he called “another deep fake from a Kaduna market” and daring opponents to “conduct a similar deep fake in any part of the Southwest.”
Moderate voices tried to parse the audio itself. “nairalanda1” wrote at 5:43am, “I don’t know if I misheard, but I heard APC and Nigeria. No Sai Atiku was heard. I think Atiku would be popular in the North, but this is not Atiku’s crowd.” “seunowa” also questioned the timing, suggesting at 7:00am, “This was prior to 2023 election. Why are you faking your joy?”
Political analysts on the forum read the episode as evidence of a shifting North. “AMINDA” argued that “Wike already told Yari that he wouldn’t be able to deliver his state and he wasn’t far from the truth,” pointing to the governor’s recent defection and what he called “rice and beans politics” ahead of 2027. “ratcock” predicted Tinubu’s strategy would shrink to “just grabbing 25% in the core northern states,” adding that “Even the 25% will be difficult for him except by rigging.”
Beyond Zamfara, commenters tied the chant to earlier protests. “Sheuns” referenced the August 2024 #EndBadGovernance demonstrations as “the first sign” that “northerners had rejected APC.” Others were blunt: “tuoyoojo” wrote, “The north is the masters of protest votes. Them go fall tilimbu hand. The governors cannot help tilimbu.”
As of Thursday morning, the thread had generated 38 likes on a single reply and continued to trend under Politics. Whether the Zamfara chant was spontaneous dissent, a misheard slogan, or manipulated audio, it has already done what rallies are meant to do — test loyalty. For Yari, Tinubu’s newly named DG, the video has turned a celebration into a referendum, and for ₦airaland’s 3.3 million members, it has become the latest flashpoint in the long campaign toward 2027.
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