A social media user has offered a defence of the Arewa for Asiwaju (A4A) movement, arguing that the group was formed because many people in northern Nigeria have not fully noticed the benefits of the Tinubu administration to the region.

In a post on X on Friday, October 16, 2026, Boss Mustapha Z. (@__yellows) said A4A was set up to draw attention to the appointments of prominent northerners, the infrastructure projects and the deliberate support for the region’s economy under President Bola Tinubu. He cited the creation of the Ministry of Livestock Development, which he said was meant to strengthen livestock rearing, the main source of livelihood for millions of people in the North.

He added that A4A “simply exists” to highlight these efforts so they are not ignored. The post carried the hashtags #ArewaForAsiwaju and #A4A, tagged several prominent X accounts, and attached a clip from Trust TV’s Daily Politics programme titled “Can A4A deliver the North for Tinubu?”

By the time of the screenshot it had drawn about 5,800 views, 74 replies, 129 reposts and 145 likes.

The post comes as A4A steps up its mobilisation ahead of the 2027 general elections. The group was unveiled in September as a northern platform for President Tinubu’s re-election.

Its 14-member Board of Trustees is chaired by former Kano State governor and ex-Education Minister Ibrahim Shekarau. He is deputised by Police Affairs Minister Ibrahim Geidam and former Plateau governor Simon Lalong, with other former governors and senators among its members.

Former Jigawa State governor Abubakar Badaru serves as Director General, while ex-Kogi governor Yahaya Bello is Deputy National Coordinator for the North Central zone.

The group says it will run structures across the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory.

On the ground, A4A has already begun grassroots outreach. At a rally in Takum, Taraba State, it set a target of mobilising at least 15,000 youths, women, students, elders and traditional rulers for the Tinubu-Shettima ticket. Its leaders have promised a “house-to-house” campaign and said they want to deliver the highest vote tally ever recorded for a presidential candidate in the North.

They have pointed to federal interventions in education, security and infrastructure, as well as the number of northerners holding strategic positions in government.

The group has also won the attention of the presidency. On Monday, October 12, Vice President Kashim Shettima received an A4A delegation at the Presidential Villa and told northerners they had nothing to fear from a second Tinubu term.

He said the region had benefited from appointments and major programmes, and cited the Bank of Agriculture’s disbursement of N450 billion to about 700,000 smallholder farmers, roughly 70 per cent of them from the North. The delegation invited him to commission the A4A office complex on Saturday, October 17.

Whether the group can convert its pitch into votes remains one of the central questions of the 2027 race in the region. A4A’s argument is that the northern electorate is not hearing about the government’s record, and the movement sees its job as closing that gap.