Youths from the Middle Belt have launched a new political movement in support of President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid, in a move seen as a blow to the camps of Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The movement, led by aviation entrepreneur Isaac Balami, will mobilise across the region in collaboration with the City Boy Movement, its Director-General Francis Oluwatosin Shoga, Seyi Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign apparatus, following Thursday’s meeting between Tinubu and Middle Belt elders led by General Theophilus.
He described the engagement as a defining moment for the region and said younger politicians were prepared to build on the direction set by regional elders.
“Our fathers have spoken”, he said.
“They have met the father, we have equally met the son,” Balami said, adding: “The movement has begun.”
The announcement is politically significant because Balami previously helped mobilize support for Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, after regional elders mandated him to do so.
Obi performed strongly in parts of the Middle Belt, including Plateau and Nasarawa states, and attracted considerable backing among younger voters.
Balami said some young people who supported Obi in 2023 were now prepared to shift their allegiance to Tinubu, arguing that political participation required assessing developments and determining where the region’s interests were best represented.
The group had earlier met Seyi Tinubu, the president’s son, and pledged to deliver 10 million votes from the Middle Belt for the president.
That figure is a campaign target rather than an independently verified projection of electoral support.
Balami cited what he described as growing recognition of the Middle Belt under the Tinubu administration, including appointments of people from the region to strategic positions, efforts to address insecurity and their inclusion in national decision-making.
“Representation matters,” he said. “We want a government where our people have a voice and can contribute meaningfully to national development.”
He also pointed to insecurity, infrastructure, education, employment and economic opportunity as central concerns for communities across the Middle Belt and North-Central region.
While welcoming any security improvements, he said the government would need to sustain protections for vulnerable communities.
The movement’s emergence follows Thursday’s meeting between Tinubu and a delegation that included Defence Minister Christopher Musa, Plateau State Gov. Caleb Mutfwang, Taraba State Gov. Agbu Kefas, former House Speaker Yakubu Dogara, former Chief of Army Staff Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi, businessman Thomas Etuh and Dr. Poju Bitrus.
Dogara said the delegation visited the president to express solidarity and discuss security, development and political engagement ahead of the 2027 elections.
The new platform signals an effort by the APC to convert engagement with established regional leaders into a broader youth mobilization operation.
It also adds another variable to the 2027 contest in a region where Obi’s 2023 support demonstrated the potential electoral importance of Middle Belt voters.
