Betara bankroll Zulum’s Unity Call With N1bn to Lawmakers at Borno APC Campaign Council Inauguration

By Fatima Haruna 9News Nigeria Maiduguri

Muktar Aliyu Betara has stole the show on Sunday at the inauguration of the Borno State All Progressives Congress Campaign Council for the 2027 general elections.

The inauguration was held at the Multipurpose Hall, Government House, Maiduguri.

It was meant to be a routine kick-off to the campaign but ended as a coronation of Betara as the party’s peacemaker, after he announced N1 billion in support for candidates.

Betara, member representing Biu, Kwaya Kusar, Bayo and Shani Federal Constituency, took the podium after the address by Governor Babagana Umara Zulum.

In a goodwill message, he echoed Zulum’s call for unity and grassroots mobilisation.

Then he went further than anyone in the hall expected and announced N50 million each to every candidate running for the House of Representatives on the APC platform in Borno State, including serving members who voluntarily stepped aside for new candidates.

He also announced N20 million each to all 28 members of the Borno State House of Assembly contesting the election, as well as those who stepped aside.

Party sources put the total at about N1 billion, N450 million for the House of Representatives candidates and N560 million for the State Assembly members.

Zulum had been making the unity call alone since the primaries ended.

Primaries always produce winners and losers.

Losers who step aside often become bitter, and bitterness, in Borno politics, often means sabotage.

Betara’s money solved that problem on the spot.

By paying those who stepped aside the same amount as those who won, he removed the excuse for sabotage as he rewarded sacrifice.

He gave even the losers a reason to campaign for the winners, in effect, he bankrolled the unity Zulum had been preaching.

Supporters in the hall described him as a master stabilizer and peacemaker who had redefined party loyalty.

One party leader said the gesture promised to ease the job of Governor Zulum and, of course, the party chairman, Bello Ayuba.

Before Betara’s intervention, Zulum, who is Chairman of the 300-member Council, had set the tone for the campaign.

“Every member of this Campaign Council must take personal responsibility. Go to your local government area. Go to your ward. Go to your polling unit. Meet the people, listen to them and work with the party structures on the ground,” Zulum said.

He warned members against relying on previous electoral victories, saying the party must earn renewed confidence through service, persuasion and effective organization.

He directed members to embark on door-to-door, house-to-house and corner-to-corner campaigns, with special focus on women and youths.

Zulum stressed the need for Borno to deliver increased votes for the APC, noting that the state is the home state of Vice-President Kashim Shettima.

He expressed confidence that Engineer Mustapha Gubio would succeed him and continue his administration’s work, and urged voters to support APC candidates from the presidency to the state assembly level.

He cited President Bola Tinubu’s projects in the state to be highlighted during the campaign, including the Federal College of Education, Gwoza, the Federal University of Agriculture and Entrepreneurship, Bama, and the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Azare.

The Council is chaired by the governor, with Deputy Governor Umar Usman Kadafur as Vice-Chairman, State APC Chairman Bello Ayuba as Secretary, and former Governor Senator Maina Maaji Lawan as Chairman of the Advisory Campaign Council.

Earlier, Ayuba said members were selected based on experience, political capacity and commitment to the party.

Senator Lawan said members’ performance would be assessed by how many votes they mobilise from their own polling units, and that post-election recognition would be tied to measurable contributions, while the APC Deputy National Chairman North, Bukar Dalori, said the APC cannot afford to lose Borno.

Betara’s N1 billion is not an isolated act.In September 2024, he donated N100 million to Maiduguri flood victims after the Alau Dam collapse, which killed 37 people and displaced over 400,000, alongside Governor Zulum during an on-the-spot assessment.

In 2022, his constituents crowdfunded N110 million to buy his own APC nomination form, N10 million for the form, N100 million for his campaign, saying he had delivered roads, empowerment and human capital development.

On Sunday, he returned the favour, to the whole party.

According to appointment letters signed by Bello Ayuba, the official flag-off of the campaign will hold on Monday, 9 November 2026, at 11:00am at the El-Kanemi Warriors Stadium, Maiduguri.

The Borno inauguration follows the national inauguration on 14 October 2026 in Abuja, where President Tinubu inaugurated the Presidential Campaign Council.

Similarly, Tinubu chairs the national council, with Vice-President Shettima and APC National Chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, as vice-chairmen, and Senator Abdulaziz Yari as Director-General.