The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has intensified its preparations for the 2027 elections over the weekend, combining internal party meetings, grassroots mobilisation and a defence of President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies ahead of the start of state-to-state presidential campaign tours.
The party’s National Working Committee (NWC) met in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, and declared itself ready for the full rollout of the campaign.
The meeting was chaired by National Chairman Nentawe Yilwatda.
The Presidential Campaign Council, led by Director-General Abdulaziz Yari, has already begun consultations with traditional rulers, including the Sultan of Sokoto, the Oba of Lagos, the Oba of Benin and the Shehu of Borno.
The council says it will seek a second term for President Tinubu in the January 16, 2027, presidential election.
The President is expected to return from a working vacation on Tuesday, paving the way for a broader campaign schedule across the states.
The campaign council said Tinubu’s re-election was necessary to preserve economic stability and consolidate reforms introduced since he took office.
Mallam Alwan Hassan, a spokesman for the council, described the election as a choice between continuing with economic reforms and returning to what he called an era of unsustainable fuel subsidies, distorted exchange rates and debt-financed consumption.
“Nigeria is making progress under President Bola Tinubu,” Hassan said.
“We will keep that momentum, complete the work, and move from recovery to shared prosperity,” he added.
Hassan said the administration’s next phase would focus on easing living costs, expanding food production, creating jobs, improving electricity supply and ensuring that the benefits of reform reached households.
He said the government’s decision to end the fuel-subsidy regime and unify the foreign-exchange market had been necessary to prevent a deeper fiscal crisis.
According to Hassan, the policies ended arbitrary price differences that benefited a small group while limiting funding for health, education and security.
The spokesman also cited the administration’s claims of higher monthly disbursements from the Federation Account Allocation Committee, the rollout of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund and investment in roads and healthcare.
NELFUND provides interest-free tuition support and monthly living stipends to eligible tertiary students, Hassan said.
He also pointed to road projects including the Calabar-Ugep-Katsina-Ala corridor, the East-West Road in Rivers State, the New Artisan Bridge in Enugu and the Apo-Wasa corridor in the Federal Capital Territory.
The campaign council said the government had awarded a contract for a 500-kilometre, three-lane highway linking Jos, Bauchi, Gombe and Biu.
It also cited the rehabilitation and re-equipping of more than 4,000 primary healthcare centres.
On security, the spokesman said improved military equipment and operations had helped eliminate prominent bandit commanders and restore commercial farming activities in parts of the Northwest and Northeast.
These claims were presented as evidence that the administration’s economic and security policies were beginning to produce results.
In Maiduguri, Governor Babagana Zulum launched the Borno APC campaign despite heavy rain, calling for continuity at both the state and federal levels.
Zulum, who recently returned from a trip to the United States and Canada, attributed what he described as relative peace in Borno and the wider Northeast to cooperation between the state and federal governments.
He said federal support had helped the state rebuild infrastructure and resettled people displaced by years of insurgency.
“The peace we are enjoying today is a result of our collective resilience and the Federal Government’s support,” Zulum told supporters gathered at the Government House.
He urged voters to support Tinubu, Borno’s governorship candidate Mustapha Gubio and the party’s candidates for the National and state assemblies.
He also called for a legislature that would work with the executive to deliver services at the local level.
The APC’s campaign push in Borno comes as the party expands its grassroots operations nationwide.
A support group associated with businessman Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, recently began mobilisation efforts in the state, unveiling campaign vehicles and equipment.
In Kano, Governor Abba Yusuf inaugurated 50 vehicles donated by the President Bola Tinubu Door-to-Door Movement, a group led by Ekpemupolo.
The vehicles will be distributed across the state’s 44 local government areas to support voter outreach and campaign logistics, according to Sunusi Tofa, the state campaign’s director-general for media and publicity.
Yusuf said mobility would be essential for reaching communities across Kano, a state known for its large voter turnout in previous elections.
Pondi Kestin, speaking for the donor, said the movement would promote awareness of federal government policies and programmes and continue its grassroots mobilisation ahead of the 2027 elections.
The APC has increasingly emphasised ward-level and community-based organising rather than relying solely on large rallies.
The party’s presidential campaign council has said it plans to use town-hall meetings and consultations with religious leaders to engage voters directly.
In Edo State, the APC campaign council said the party faced no serious opposition.
John Mayaki, the council’s Director of media, said political groups associated with former Governor Godwin Obaseki had become fragmented.
He claimed that about 70% of Edo PDP leaders had joined the APC, while others had withdrawn from active politics.
Mayaki was responding to criticism of Governor Monday Okpebholo’s claim that Edo would deliver 2.5 million votes for Tinubu.
He said the figure was not a prediction but a target intended to define the scale of the party’s organisation, voter registration, permanent voter-card collection and turnout operations.
“There is nothing wrong with setting a high standard or target for oneself,” Mayaki said.
“What matters is the degree of mobilisation, the number of registered voters and ultimately the number who turn out to vote”, he added.
He said the governor had created a mobilisation structure extending from the state and local-government levels to wards and polling units.
The APC’s weekend activities reflect the party’s effort to build an early organisational advantage before the presidential campaign moves into full state-by-state operations.
For President Tinubu, the campaign will centre on whether voters view his economic reforms as a necessary reset, or as a source of hardship that has yet to deliver broad relief.
