APC in North-Central Plans Rally for Tinubu's Re-election

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in the North Central has shared plans to hold a big rally in Lafia, the capital of Nasarawa State, next Saturday. This rally is part of efforts to gather support for President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima as the 2027 general elections approach.

The rally is organized under the North Central Grassroots Mobilisation Movement for Tinubu/Shettima. This initiative aims to coordinate political efforts across the six North Central states and the Federal Capital Territory.

Dele Alake, the spokesperson for the APC Presidential Campaign Council, announced this in a statement on Saturday. This came after the first meeting of the movement in Abuja.

The meeting took place at the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume. Political leaders and government officials from the region attended.

Mr Akume praised the initiative. He said the North Central has the main aim of securing the highest number of votes for Mr Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election. He also commended the movement’s National Coordinator, Sonny Echono, for bringing political leaders and stakeholders in the region together for the election.

Mr Echono, who was previously the Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), mentioned that the focus of the movement has changed. It is now about how the North Central can secure the highest number of votes for Mr Tinubu in 2027.

“The conversation is no longer simply about whether President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will win the North-central, but about the region positioning itself to deliver the highest number of votes to the president in the 2027 election,” he said.

The North Central zone includes Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, and Plateau states, plus the Federal Capital Territory. This region is politically important in presidential elections because of its large voting population and its role as a swing area in national elections.

The voting patterns in this region have changed over different election cycles. This makes it a key target for major political parties as the 2027 elections draw near.

Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule described the mobilization initiative as timely. He said the political challenges for the APC before the 2027 election are slowly fading.

He noted that the latest voter register shows strong support for the APC across the North Central. Mr Sule expressed confidence that the region would give the highest number of votes to Mr Tinubu and other APC candidates in the next elections.

He pointed out that the political strength of the region has grown since the 2023 election. He highlighted the important positions held by senior political figures from the North Central.

Currently, the region has the SGF and the national chairman of the ruling APC, among other top officials and political appointees. Mr Sule said the party would use the grassroots mobilization movement to spread its message to communities across the region and build support for the Tinubu-Shettima ticket.

Mr Echono added that the initiative will unite political leaders, grassroots actors, and other stakeholders under one platform ahead of the election. He thanked Mr Akume, the North-central Governors’ Forum, and other political stakeholders for their support for the Tinubu administration.

He called the movement a strategic platform for gathering support for the administration and boosting the APC’s presence at the grassroots level. Besides political mobilization, the forum plans to organize medical outreach programs across the region, set up a Reconciliation Committee, and hold town hall meetings.

The medical outreach aims to engage with the grassroots, while the proposed reconciliation committee will work on resolving disagreements among party members and stakeholders in the region. The forum also decided that the Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, will work with state commissioners for information, APC state publicity secretaries, and state publicity committees to promote the initiative.

The statement mentioned that this publicity effort would have the backing of state governors. Mr Idris called the movement the first of its kind, but the statement did not explain how it differs from past APC campaign or mobilization efforts.

At the end of the first meeting, members agreed to step up efforts to gather support for Mr Tinubu before the 2027 election. They aim to make the North Central the region with the highest vote total for the president. The Lafia rally will be the first major public event announced under the new regional initiative.

The APC’s push comes as political parties and new opposition groups begin to position themselves for the 2027 presidential election. The North Central is expected to be an important battleground in this contest.