By Abubakar Yunusa
The Senator Yari National Unity Project for Tinubu 2027 (SYNUP 4 Tinubu 2027) has rejected reports that the Director-General of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari, described Nigerian youths as lazy.
The group described the reports as a deliberate distortion of Yari’s remarks at the APC presidential campaign rally in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, insisting that he neither mentioned nor insulted Nigerian youths.
In a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Dr Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi, the group said the senator’s comments had been taken out of context and misrepresented by sections of the media and social media users.
Yari had spoken at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo, on November 6, 2026, where he addressed food availability and the rising cost of living.
According to the group, the senator began his remarks by acknowledging the economic hardship confronting Nigerians, saying, “We have hunger.”
It explained that Yari subsequently spoke about the availability of food in markets and the importance of hard work and productivity in ensuring households could provide for themselves.
“At no point in that remark did the senator mention, single out or describe Nigerian youths,” the statement said.
The group accused those behind the reports of turning a statement about the dignity of labour into an allegation that Yari called Nigerian youths lazy.
It urged Nigerians to watch the complete, unedited footage of the rally rather than rely on headlines and social media interpretations.
While acknowledging the economic difficulties facing households, SYNUP maintained that Yari’s message was about work, enterprise and productivity as pathways out of hardship.
To support its position, the group highlighted several interventions it attributed to the senator, particularly in education, employment and youth development.
It said Yari’s scholarship initiative, launched in 2024 and personally funded by him, had supported 2,055 orphans and indigent students in 19 tertiary institutions across the North-West.
According to the statement, the initiative spent N216m on tuition fees in its first year, provides beneficiaries with a monthly stipend of N15,000 and sponsors them until graduation.
The group also said Yari facilitated the recruitment of 84 young people from Zamfara West into the Nigerian Army’s 86th Regular Recruit Intake and another 74 candidates during the 87th intake.
It added that the senator had supported farmers with fertilisers, agrochemicals and farming equipment to improve agricultural productivity and food security.
The group further recalled that Yari’s administration as Zamfara State governor announced the recruitment of 1,000 NCE-qualified teachers in 2017.
It also cited his distribution of food items and clothing to 10,000 orphans across Zamfara State during Ramadan and Sallah in 2024.
“These are not slogans. They are documented interventions that have changed the trajectory of thousands of young lives,” the statement added.
SYNUP maintained that a leader who had invested in sending young Nigerians to universities and facilitating their entry into national service could not reasonably be accused of holding them in contempt.
The group also reaffirmed its confidence in Yari’s leadership of the Tinubu/Shettima 2027 Presidential Campaign Council.
President Bola Tinubu appointed the former Zamfara governor as Director-General of the campaign council in August 2026.
It described the appointment as recognition of his political experience, including his time as a member of the House of Representatives, two-term governor of Zamfara State and former Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum.
The group said the campaign council had commenced mobilisation through town hall meetings and consultations with religious and traditional institutions.
It directed its national, zonal and state officers to intensify grassroots mobilisation ahead of the January 16, 2027 presidential election.
SYNUP also called on Nigerian youths to assess political leaders based on their records rather than what it described as propaganda.
The group urged APC members, support groups and other stakeholders to close ranks behind the campaign council.
It also called on media organisations that published reports claiming Yari described Nigerian youths as lazy to review the full footage and correct what it termed a misrepresentation.
“We respect the role of the media in a democracy and welcome robust scrutiny of every candidate and campaign official. However, fairness demands that remarks be reported in full and in context,” the statement said.
The group stressed that Nigerian youths deserved a serious conversation about employment, skills development and economic opportunities rather than political distractions.
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