DLA Candidates Support Tinubu for 2027, Won't Join APC

A group of governorship candidates from the Democratic Leadership Alliance has backed President Bola Tinubu for a second term in 2027. They promised to use their grassroots political networks to support his re-election.

The forum, led by Hon. Aboki Bayonga, the DLA’s candidate for Taraba State, made the announcement at a press conference in Abuja on Friday.

The candidates also said they would work with Arewa for Asiwaju (A4A) to gather support for the President.

Those at the meeting included Alhaji Adamu Idrisu Chado (Kaduna), Hon. Bekky Folorunso James (Osun), Prof. Valdya Tame (Adamawa), Hon. Ibrahim Musa (FCT), Hon. Sam Umar (Plateau), Alhaji Sani Mohammed (Gombe), Hon. Nnamdi Ugwu (Enugu), and Hon. Brent Micheal (Bauchi), among others.

But the candidates made it clear they will not join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). They said their support for Tinubu is only for the presidential election.

They want to continue their plans for governorship, senatorial, House of Representatives, and state House of Assembly seats under the DLA banner.

Bayonga explained that the decision came after discussions among party members. They agreed to support Tinubu since the DLA will not have a presidential candidate in the 2027 election.

He emphasized that backing Tinubu does not mean they are leaving the party. The candidates will stay in the DLA and run for their own positions under its platform.

Bayonga said, “As the Forum of Governorship Candidates of DLA, we are here today declaring our support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as our Presidential candidate in 2027. Not that we have dropped our aspirations under our own platform. But as for the presidency, we are for Asiwaju 100%. We will work for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to come back. We will do everything possible to make sure that Asiwaju is back in 2027.”

He added, “There are so many reasons for our decision, but time will not permit us to sit down and mention them. But if I can mention a few, like the NELFUND that places our children, whether you pay their school fees or you don’t pay their school fees, they depend on themselves. In terms of agriculture, recently, trailers of fertilisers were moving around the country, and they would give you a fertiliser and add 50,000. It helped the farmer, especially those in the rural areas.”

“Again, in terms of road construction, you can see what the President is doing concerning the road network. He is making solid roads that, in years to come, will still be permanent.”

Bayonga continued, “And for us, because we don’t have a presidential candidate, but apart from that, we looked at all the presidential candidates. We said, look, you cannot leave the opposition and go and join the opposition. You will not succeed. Therefore, looking at all of them, we compared them and found out that the present government has a lot of things that, if given another four years, it will achieve, and Nigeria will be better.”

He also said that four years might not be enough to finish programs that need long-term planning and funding. He believes another term would help the administration complete its projects and meet its goals.

“We want continuity. Four years is not enough to complete every programme, especially projects that require long-term planning and funding,” he stated.

When asked if the DLA national chairman and other governorship candidates supported the endorsement, Bayonga replied, “Yeah. I am the chairman of the forum of governorship candidates of DLA. And you can see all of us are here. And we agree, and we had a meeting, a general meeting yesterday. We agreed upon what we are doing here.”

He is hopeful that their political connections with voters in their states will help bring support for the President. He noted that grassroots influence goes beyond party lines.

Bayonga mentioned that many candidates had strong ties with their communities before joining the DLA and plan to use those relationships to help Tinubu’s re-election campaign.

Addressing worries that Tinubu’s re-election could lead to a life presidency, Bayonga dismissed this idea. He said the presidency is governed by the Constitution and the will of the Nigerian people.

He pointed out that no one owns the presidency or can stay in office longer than allowed by the Constitution. “The presidency belongs to the Nigerian people. Nobody owns it, and nobody can remain there beyond what the Constitution allows,” he said.