Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) and Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, has said Governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are set to commence grassroots campaigns for the party ahead of the 2027 General elections.
Uzodimma made the remarks while briefing President Bola Tinubu at the President’s Lagos residence on developments during his absence and on governors’ activities, and that the meeting turned straight to campaign logistics.
“We referred straight to our campaign outing, which will start almost immediately since he is now back,” Uzodimma told reporters after the meeting.
The PGF chairman said governors would take their cue from Tinubu’s recent Independence Day broadcast and focus less on abstract messaging and more on demonstrating how federal reforms are improving daily life.
He pointed to compressed natural gas (CNG) buses as a case in point, urging transport operators to pass lower operating costs on to commuters so that “the masses will feel the impact.”
Uzodimma also highlighted fiscal gains for states under the current administration, recalling that when he took office in 2021 Imo struggled to fund recurrent obligations beyond salaries, whereas today the state can simultaneously pay workers and finance projects.
“It is not only in my state. Every other state. Most of our Governors are very active, with a lot of projects here and there,” he said.
In a separate television appearance, Minister of Works David Umahi predicted that Tinubu will secure “substantially more” votes in the Southeast in 2027 than in 2023, citing new federal appointments for the region and a wave of road projects as evidence of inclusion.
He listed the Abuja–Abakaliki–Enugu corridor, links among Ebonyi, Benue and Enugu, the Eke-Obinagu flyover, and the Lokpanta–Enugu road as proof that the administration is integrating the Southeast into national development.
Pressed on whether the APC could win all five Southeast states, Umahi said “Faith is telling me we’ll win the five states,” while adding that the president would “Harvest a lot of votes” in the region regardless.
He dismissed NDC’s figure Peter Obi as a threat to Tinubu and urged South-East voters to move beyond “regional politics” and build national alliances.
On the prospect of an opposition coalition, he said the APC would wait until such an alliance materialized before calibrating its response.
Ahead of public rallies, the APC’s Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), led by Director-General Senator Abdulaziz Yari, has visited four traditional rulers for consultations: the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar; the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu; the Oba of Benin, Ewuare II; and the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar ibn el-Kanemi.
Tinubu’s own Lagos engagements continued over the weekend with a visit to the Oba of Lagos at Iga Idunganran, accompanied by Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabhamila and other APC chieftains, drawing large crowds along Marina and Isale Eko.
The president said he came to express gratitude; the monarch offered prayers for the administration and counselled peace and stability.
The visit followed Tinubu’s October 1 attendance in Lagos at the national premiere of “MKO,” a documentary on the late Chief M.K.O. Abiola.
The Presidency has said he will hold strategic meetings with political leaders in Lagos before returning to Abuja, as the APC accelerates mobilization ahead of the January 2027 presidential election.
