Tinubu 2027 Re-election: NCYP Backs Bid, Demands Jobs From Economic Reforms
The Northern Christian Youth Professionals (NCYP) has thrown its weight behind President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027, arguing that continuity in economic policy is necessary to consolidate ongoing reforms and translate Nigeria’s improving macroeconomic performance into jobs, investment and higher living standards.
The group’s position came as the World Bank reported that economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa is gaining momentum, with Nigeria among the countries whose growth forecasts have been upgraded, while warning that the next challenge is to convert growth into more jobs and better opportunities.
In a statement signed by its National Chairman, Isaac Abrak, on Tuesday, NCYP said Nigeria had reached a critical stage in its economic reform journey where the emphasis should shift from stabilisation to inclusive prosperity.
The group was reacting to President Tinubu’s Independence Day address on October 1, in which the President declared: “The emergency treatment is over. The foundation has been repaired,” and said the government’s economic priority had moved from correcting the country’s economic course to achieving “shared and widespread prosperity.”
According to NCYP, the latest World Bank assessment reinforces the argument that Nigeria must sustain the reforms rather than reverse course.
The World Bank said on October 6 that growth in sub-Saharan Africa was being supported by improved macroeconomic resilience, stronger domestic demand and investment, while noting that years of reforms and improved economic management had contributed to improved forecasts for countries including Nigeria. It nevertheless warned that growth remained insufficient to substantially reduce extreme poverty or create enough jobs for the region’s rapidly expanding labour force.
The World Bank’s latest country assessment similarly said Nigeria’s macroeconomic performance had improved further in 2026, with real GDP growth of 4.2 per cent in the first half of the year, compared with 3.9 per cent a year earlier.
It, however, cautioned that growth was still insufficient to generate enough productive jobs and materially reduce poverty, stressing the need for greater private investment, productivity, human capital development and job creation.
NCYP said this was precisely the challenge facing the Tinubu administration in the next phase of its economic programme.
“Nigeria must now move from reform to prosperity, from growth to jobs, and from jobs to poverty reduction,” the group said.
It noted that the country’s real GDP grew by 4.43 per cent in the second quarter of 2026, compared with 3.89 per cent in the first quarter, citing the National Bureau of Statistics’ latest GDP report. The NBS has published its Q2 2026 GDP report dated August 31, 2026.
While describing the improving growth trajectory as encouraging, NCYP maintained that headline economic figures would only become meaningful when ordinary Nigerians experienced improvements in employment, income and living conditions.
The group said youth development should therefore remain central to the next phase of the economic programme, particularly given Nigeria’s large young population.
It cited the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), saying more than 1.1 million students had gained access to tertiary education financing.
NELFUND’s current data shows that more than 1.08 million students have been supported across 37 states, with over ₦191 billion in loans disbursed, while its broader student-loan platform records more than 1.4 million registered students.
NCYP also backed proposed reforms to the National Youth Service Corps, saying a more productive national service scheme could equip graduates with specialised skills in agriculture, medicine, education, technology, digital innovation, infrastructure, the green economy, enterprise and the creative sector.
The organisation argued that Nigeria’s youthful population should be treated as an economic asset rather than merely a demographic challenge.
“With education, skills, financing and the right economic environment, our young people can become entrepreneurs, skilled professionals, job creators and drivers of industrialisation,” it said.
The group outlined what it described as the economic pathway to prosperity: reforms should create stability; stability should encourage investment; education and skills should create opportunities; enterprise should create businesses and jobs; while industrialisation should deliver sustainable prosperity.
It said the agenda was particularly important for Northern Nigeria, where it called for an economy capable of converting skills into enterprise, enterprise into jobs and jobs into sustainable livelihoods.
The World Bank has similarly identified the creation of more and better private-sector jobs as central to Nigeria’s long-term prosperity, with its 2026–2032 Country Partnership Framework focusing on competitiveness, private capital, human capital and resilience.
The Bank has also acknowledged that Nigeria’s recent reforms have strengthened macroeconomic stability, but warned that household incomes have not fully recovered and poverty remains high. It has called for the stabilisation gains to be consolidated while accelerating inclusive growth.
Against this backdrop, NCYP said it had decided to support President Tinubu’s re-election in 2027, framing the decision around continuity of economic policy.
“It is against this background that NCYP supports the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027, with our position anchored on policy continuity and the need to consolidate the economic reforms while moving decisively into the next phase of job creation, human-capital development and industrialisation,” Abrak said.
