APC: 8 Lawmakers Who Met President Tinubu After Resigning Receive Car Gifts; Photos Emerge

• Minister of State for Defence Bello Matawalle donated vehicles to eight Zamfara lawmakers who rejoined the APC
• The gesture followed a reported directive from President Bola Tinubu urging the lawmakers to return home and strengthen the party
• Northern elders praised the development but warned it should not mark the end of APC's reconciliation efforts in Zamfara

Eight members of the Zamfara State House of Assembly who recently returned to the All Progressives Congress (APC) have received vehicle gifts from Minister of State for Defence Bello Matawalle, in a show of appreciation for their renewed loyalty to the party.

The vehicles were formally presented in Gusau on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, by Yazid Danfulani, Managing Director of the Nigeria Agricultural Insurance Corporation, who acted on Matawalle's behalf.

Danfulani explained that the donation was intended to facilitate the lawmakers' travel back to their constituencies and support their grassroots engagement efforts ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Read also

Fresh trouble for APC as ex-national chairman’s ally quits party

He added that the gesture reflected Matawalle's broader commitment to reconciliation and cohesion within the APC, noting that the minister had been working closely with party stakeholders across Zamfara to rebuild internal unity.

Tinubu's role in the lawmakers' return

The vehicle presentation followed reports that President Bola Tinubu had directed the lawmakers to return to Zamfara and focus on consolidating the party's structures at the local level.

Matawalle, who governed Zamfara between 2019 and 2023, is said to have personally introduced the eight legislators to the President after they affirmed their loyalty to both Tinubu and the APC.

Speaking on behalf of the group, lawmaker Aliyu Kagara thanked Matawalle for the gesture and pledged the lawmakers' full support for Tinubu's re-election campaign in 2027.

The Facebook post below contains photos of the eight lawmakers receiving their cars.

Northern elders commend the reconciliation effort

The Northern Elders of the APC Forum welcomed the development, with forum chairman Alhaji Yusuf Abubakar describing it as a positive step towards healing divisions within the party in Zamfara.

Abubakar specifically credited Matawalle with driving the reconciliation process and persuading the legislators to return to the party fold.

Read also

CompuGhana launches 2026 Cashback Sales Festival, offers two brand-new cars to customers

The forum did, however, caution that the return of the eight lawmakers should not be treated as the final chapter of the reconciliation process.

It urged APC leadership to continue addressing the concerns of other aggrieved members to prevent further fractures within the party.

Matawalle lost his governorship re-election bid in 2023 to Dauda Lawal of the Peoples Democratic Party before President Tinubu appointed him Minister of State for Defence.

He has since emerged as a central figure in the APC's strategy to strengthen its political foothold in Zamfara ahead of the 2027 polls.

Tinubu picks Gbajabiamila for campaign role

Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that President Bola Tinubu handed his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, a fresh political assignment, naming him Deputy Director General for Administration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) 2027 Presidential Campaign Council (PCC).

The move signals the ruling party's formal shift into campaign mode as it works to secure a second term for the incumbent president.

Gbajabiamila, 64, is one of Tinubu's most trusted political allies.

Source: YEN.com.gh