2027: Aiyedatiwa Inaugurates APC Campaign Council, Targets One Million Votes For Tinubu

Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State inaugurated the state All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Election Campaign Council, directorates and sub-committees, charging members to unite and mobilise support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027.

Aiyedatiwa, who is the chairman of the campaign council, described the inauguration at the International Culture and Event Centre as a strategic step towards the general election.

He said unity and coalition-building, which brought the APC to power in 2015, remained crucial to its electoral success, warning that the party’s status as Nigeria’s and Africa’s largest political party would not guarantee victory without internal cohesion.

The governor said the elections would involve the President, senators, members of the House of Representatives, governors, except in three states, and members of state Houses of Assembly.

Aiyedatiwa said: “As large or as big as we are, if we are not together, it will be difficult to win the election. That is why it’s very, very important that we must remain united.”

Recalling the APC’s formation in 2014, Aiyedatiwa said the alliance involving the New PDP, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Action Congress of Democrats (ACD) and other legacy parties enabled the progressives to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015.

The governor urged party members to learn from the divisions that produced factions within the PDP, warning that internal disagreements could jeopardise the APC’s chances, particularly in Ondo State.

“We must learn from that, particularly here in our state. We must all work together,” he said.

Aiyedatiwa said retaining power was essential to protecting the interests of party members and their communities, urging them to work collectively towards victory.

His words “It is only when we retain power, that is when your own individual interests and your community interests can be met. All of us must work together.”

He urged the campaign council to base its appeal on the achievements of the Tinubu administration and his government in Ondo State.

The governor cited regular payment of salaries, training of graduates, construction of roads and bridges, provision of equipment for government hospitals and health centres, construction of schools and support for educational institutions as some of Tinubu’s achievements.

He said Tinubu’s policies, projects and programmes had provided the party with compelling issues to present to voters.

“The President has made the job easy for us by those reforms,” he said.

On petrol subsidy removal, Aiyedatiwa recalled that all presidential candidates had promised during the 2023 election campaigns to scrap the subsidy. He said Tinubu had fulfilled the promise and was deploying the resulting savings to projects intended to benefit the majority of Nigerians.

Criticising politicians who had allegedly changed their positions on subsidy removal, the governor said the President’s reforms had enabled major development projects.

He said: “There is no government that has done what Asiwaju has done in the history of the presidential ruling in Nigeria.”

Citing the coastal highway, Aiyedatiwa said the project had been planned for years without any previous president daring to embark on it. He described Tinubu as a leader with the audacity, boldness, resources and confidence to undertake major projects.

He also recalled Tinubu’s record as Lagos State governor, particularly efforts to control the Atlantic Ocean, saying areas around Victoria Island had developed into what he described as Lagos Atlantic City.

On coastal erosion in Ondo State, Aiyedatiwa said his administration was working to tackle the Atlantic Ocean’s incursion, particularly in Ayetoro, where the persistent problem had affected the community and required federal intervention.

Expressing confidence in Tinubu’s support, he said, “We must tame the sea incursion at Ayetoro. And I know Mr President will help us to do that.”

Aiyedatiwa said the inauguration followed a directive issued to party leaders at the national level on Wednesday, 14 October, to return to their states and replicate the campaign structure.

He charged council members to take the campaign to every part of Ondo State, mobilise voters and explain the Tinubu administration’s achievements ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

“We have to go to every nook and cranny of our state. The job is ours, Mr President,” he said.

Also speaking, the Deputy Governor, Dr Olayide Adelami, urged APC members to intensify grassroots mobilisation to secure one million votes for Tinubu in 2027.

He said the target depended on members’ commitment to reaching every household and community through house-to-house and street-to-street campaigns.

Adelami urged women, men, youths, elders and other groups to participate, describing Tinubu as a visionary leader who fulfilled his promises.

He expressed confidence that the President would provide the necessary resources for the campaign and urged party members to return to their constituencies to mobilise voters, adding that the target would be achieved by the grace of God.

On his part, Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Olamide Oladiji, urged APC leaders to work for Tinubu’s re-election, saying the state was known for winning elections and should sustain the record.

He called on party leaders and residents to return to their respective areas and work for a convincing victory. Oladiji said Aiyedatiwa had indicated his readiness to support them and expressed confidence that Ondo State would deliver for Tinubu in 2027.

Also, the Chairman of the Governor’s Advisory Council, Dr Pius Akinyelure, expressed confidence that the APC would win convincingly, saying the large turnout showed members’ readiness for the electoral contest.

“We shall win and win convincingly. We shall make more than a million votes that we are now talking about. God will be with us all,” he said.

Akinyelure urged members to remember the ABC of election day as they campaigned and wished them God’s blessings.

In his welcome address, the APC State Chairman, Kolawole Babatunde, charged the campaign committees to reach every part of the state, engage residents and mobilise voters, expressing confidence that the party would achieve its target based on its performance at state and national levels.

He said the Aiyedatiwa administration had completed more than 50 road projects, with over 50 others ongoing, citing figures presented by the Commissioner for Infrastructure during the commissioning of the Akure flyover.

He also cited grants and scholarships for students and the payment of gratuities and pensions as and when due, saying the achievements would form the basis of the party’s campaign.

“Our campaign is going to be issue-based. We’ll be telling our people what we have done as a government,” he said.

Babatunde said the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda and Aiyedatiwa’s administration shared a focus on public welfare, comparing the Conditional Cash Transfer programme and student loan scheme with grants and scholarships available to students in Ondo State.

He commended Aiyedatiwa for strengthening party unity and recalled the governor’s campaign tour of all wards and local government areas during the last election.

The APC chairman said Aiyedatiwa was best placed to inaugurate the campaign council because he was not a candidate in the presidential election, unlike Tinubu, who had indicated he might not be best placed to perform the task.

Babatunde also acknowledged Chief Oniyola and Isolawoki for agreeing to serve as Director of Contact and Mobilisation. He said the party leader had pledged continued commitment to the APC, particularly in supporting the governor’s victory and serving the party.

He urged him to liaise with the chairmen, co-chairmen and secretaries of the sub-committees and thanked those who attended despite the absence of some members.

In his goodwill message, the senator representing Ondo North Senatorial District, Remi Okinrinboye, likened Tinubu’s economic reforms to surgery, saying the temporary pain would eventually give way to healing and greater strength.

He described the reforms as a step towards Nigeria’s greatness and expressed confidence in Tinubu’s re-election and the APC’s ability to secure one million votes in Ondo State.

Okinrinboye described the President as a disciplined man of principle who understood what he was doing, comparing his efforts with the transformation associated with Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s leadership of the former Western Region.

He commended Aiyedatiwa for introducing programmes to cushion the people’s hardship and assured those yet to benefit that their turn would come soon.

Describing the inauguration as a call to action, he urged campaign council members to return to their constituencies and work.

Recalling a song popularised by Baba Akinloye in Ibadan in support of former President Shehu Shagari, Okinrinboye said he was claiming a similar victory for Tinubu despite opposition. He urged the gathering to affirm their support through a chorus of “Bola Tinubu” and “Tinubu”.

On his part, Senator Tayo Alasoadura, representing Ondo Central Senatorial District, also urged APC leaders and members to work towards securing at least one million votes for Tinubu.

Expressing confidence in the party’s chances, he described the gathering as comprising some of the finest politicians in the state, irrespective of party affiliation.

“We know what we want to do. We know the task that has been given to us. And I believe that the cream of politicians in Ondo State are here. I’m not talking about APC alone. Because take all these people away from politicians in Ondo State, who’s left?” he said.

Alasoadura said Aiyedatiwa had challenged the party to deliver at least one million votes and expressed confidence that the target would be achieved.

He recalled that, at a meeting attended by Tinubu two or three months earlier, he had said Ondo State recorded the highest percentage of votes in the South-West and the second highest in Nigeria.

He urged members to improve on their previous performance through grassroots mobilisation rather than prolonged discussions.

“Shouldn’t we improve on what we did the other time? I don’t think we need to talk too much. Let us go home and work. Let us give our governor all the support,” he said.

Also, the senator representing Ondo South Senatorial District, Chief Olusola Oke, SAN, pledged to mobilise voters across the state to deliver one million votes for Tinubu in 2027.

Oke said the President deserved re-election, citing the appointment of three substantive ministers from Ondo State, improvements to federal roads and the ongoing coastal road project, which he said was expected to open up the state’s coastal resorts.

He challenged Tinubu’s critics to offer viable alternatives to Nigeria’s problems, describing the President’s leadership as transformative and maintaining that the country was on the right path.

Oke said Ondo State, which had supported Tinubu previously, would perform better in 2027. He pledged to mobilise market women, religious leaders, civil servants, politicians, youths, the elderly, visitors and passers-by to achieve the target.

“One million is our target. It is achievable. We are going to achieve it,” he said, adding that mobilisation would begin immediately.

In his acceptance speech, the Director-General of the Campaign Council, Hon Victor Olabimtan, praised Tinubu’s efforts to make the country a better place.

While appreciating Aiyedatiwa, Olabimtan urged party faithful to support and canvass for Tinubu’s re-election, saying Ondo State could surpass its previous vote total.