By Omeiza Ajayi ABUJA: Stakeholders of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC have called for the decentralization of campaign structures for President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid, insisting that political mobilisation must be driven from the polling units rather than from Abuja or state capitals. The stakeholders under the aegis of the Concerned National APC Stakeholders Forum made the call on Thursday in Abuja at the inauguration of State Coordinators of the Tinubu/Shettima Grassroots Canvassers. Convener of the forum, Dr Dominic Alancha, said the gathering marked the beginning of a structured grassroots movement to take the party’s message directly to the Nigerian people. According to him, the mission of the newly inaugurated coordinators is to build a formidable grassroots network capable of delivering polling units, wards, local government areas and states for the victory of the APC in the 2027 presidential election. He argued that elections are won at the grassroots and that the men and women who ultimately determine outcomes are market women, farmers, artisans, youths, professionals, civil servants, religious leaders, traditional institutions and ordinary citizens who walk to the polling unit to vote, stressing that politics must therefore move beyond Abuja and the state capitals into every ward, community and polling unit. Alancha told the newly inaugurated coordinators that they were not merely administrators but ambassadors of the movement, grassroots communicators, vote mobilisers, listeners to the people, and frontline defenders of the party’s democratic mandate. He charged them to engage Nigerians respectfully and honestly, explaining government policies, acknowledging challenges and responding to misinformation with facts, maturity and civility, rather than arrogance or intimidation. Alancha said the strength of the organisation would ultimately be measured by outcomes at the polling-unit level. “If we deliver the polling units, we will deliver the wards. If we deliver the wards, we will deliver the local governments. If we deliver the local governments, we will deliver the states. And if we deliver the states, we will secure victory in 2027,” he said. He also urged members and supporters of the party to place the collective interest of the APC and Nigeria above personal differences, cautioning coordinators against creating unnecessary enemies, insulting political opponents or spreading unverified information, and calling instead for bridge-building and persuasion in political engagement. Guest speaker and Chairman of the Governing Board of the Lower Benue River Basin Development Authority, Dr. Amos Gizo Yadukso, who identified himself as a Christian from Plateau State, reeled out achievements of the Tinubu administration, citing the elimination of university strikes and the role of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFund) in easing tuition burdens for students. “It is not what we have as individuals, but the fact that your children can go to the university and graduate in four years, five years, or six years… you should be a happy person,” he said, adding that infrastructural development under the current administration had given state governors unprecedented latitude to execute projects. Yadukso also addressed recent statements from a cleric over the 2023 Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket, appealing to Christians, particularly those in the north, not to be swayed by such statements. He noted that the North Central zone currently produces the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the National Chairman of the APC, alongside holding the Ministry of Defense, as evidence that the president does not treat religion as a national issue. “It should not deter us from giving support to the person who takes Nigeria as one. It should encourage us,” he said. Turning to the authenticity of political support groups, Yadukso insisted that genuine grassroots organisations must be unit-based rather than concentrated in Abuja, state capitals or local government headquarters. He recalled that over 10,000 support groups had rallied behind Tinubu’s candidacy ahead of the 2023 election, but cautioned that inflated claims of membership did not translate to votes, noting that Tinubu polled eight million votes in that election despite the large number of associations. He recounted rebuking a support group leader from Maiduguri who claimed to command 100 million followers, telling her the figure was implausible given Nigeria’s total voter registration. Yadukso called on state coordinators to submit the names and phone numbers of genuine unit-level canvassers rather than inflated organisational structures, saying such details would be verified through situation rooms es
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