Uzodimma Sets Up Team to Rally Support for Tinubu's Re-election

Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, has set up a grassroots media team to campaign for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election. This team will focus on the government's policies and reforms from the last three years as part of its outreach.

Mr Uzodimma, who is also the chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF), wants the team to engage with Nigerians in various communities. They will discuss the benefits of the Renewed Hope Agenda and the administration’s policies as we approach the 2027 presidential election.

The team is formed under the Renewed Hope Ambassadors, which Mr Uzodimma chairs. He also acts as the director-general for party outreach, engagement, and mobilization.

Shehu Usman, the Director of Logistics for the Renewed Hope Ambassadors, announced the formation of the grassroots media team. He spoke to journalists in Abuja on Tuesday.

Mr Usman explained that the team has created strategies to run campaigns across communities nationwide. This includes weekly media outreach and appearances on TV shows.

He added that the team will also work to correct any false information about the administration’s policies. They aim to showcase Mr Tinubu’s achievements and the reforms he has implemented since he took office in May 2023.

“It’s an effective use of digital and new media platforms to enlighten the general public about the federal government’s policies, counter misinformation, and connect the administration’s reforms narrative with the voters at the grassroots,” Mr Usman said.

The mobilization effort will reach out to communities, markets, wards, and polling units as the 2027 elections approach.

“The media strategy is being positioned not just as an information campaign, but as a grassroots communication network capable of taking the Renewed Hope message into communities, markets, campuses, wards, and polling units ahead of the 2027 presidential election and beyond,” he added.

Mr Usman noted that this initiative shows Mr Uzodimma’s intention to use media to gather support for Mr Tinubu, especially at the grassroots level, leading up to the 2027 election.

This grassroots mobilization comes amid a disagreement between Mr Uzodimma-led PGF and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike. They disagree over the creation of a parallel campaign structure for Mr Tinubu’s re-election.

Mr Wike, a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is part of the APC-led federal government. He has been promoting a Rainbow Coalition aimed at rallying support for Mr Tinubu’s re-election.

This coalition started in Rivers State, where Mr Wike was governor, and has grown to other parts of the country.

The PGF, led by Mr Uzodimma, is against the coalition. They claim it could weaken the party and its candidates before the 2027 elections.

The governors have stated they will not support any political arrangement that could harm the APC and its candidates in the elections.

Some APC leaders accuse Mr Wike of using the coalition to help politicians who lost in the party’s primaries and are now running on the PDP platform.

Mr Wike, on his part, claims the governors oppose the coalition because they fear losing their elections. He has also criticized their performance in their states.

The FCT minister specifically mentioned Mr Uzodimma, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State, and Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State as opponents of the coalition. He accused them of acting out of “selfish reasons.”

The PDP has also commented on the issue, supporting Mr Wike’s efforts to mobilize for Mr Tinubu’s re-election. This comes even though the party has chosen Sandy Onor as its presidential candidate for the 2027 election.

The APC South-east caucus and other mobilization groups in the party have rejected the coalition. They want Mr Wike to apologize to the party’s governors for his remarks on their political abilities and his opposition to the Rainbow Coalition.

As this disagreement continues, the APC national leadership has not publicly stated whether it supports Mr Wike’s coalition. This leaves the status of the arrangement within the party unclear.