2027: Ondo APC has structure to mobilise votes for Tinubu — Aiyedatiwa

Ondo Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa on Tuesday said the All Progressives Congress (APC) has an extensive grassroots structure across the state to mobilise support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in the 2027 general elections.

Aiyedatiwa stated this when the PBAT Door-to-Door Movement inaugurated its Ondo State chapter and unveiled 26 campaign vehicles for grassroots mobilisation across the state’s 26 constituencies.

The governor said the APC’s mobilisation machinery comprised party structures, local government and Local Council Development Area officials, transport workers, artisans and traditional institutions, among others.

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He said the structures would complement the activities of support groups campaigning for Tinubu’s re-election, adding that his administration was prepared to work with all groups committed to the president’s second-term bid.

According to him, the door-to-door campaign strategy would help address voter apathy by familiarising residents with the president and his administration’s policies before election day.

He said, “As someone who is also a grassroots politician, door-to-door campaigning has a way of making people aware of what is happening, and on election day they will come out because the name of Mr President will not be new to them,”

Aiyedatiwa commended the movement for extending its mobilisation activities beyond Delta State, the home state of its convener, High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, to other parts of the country.

He described Tinubu as a political phenomenon and praised his administration’s economic reforms, infrastructure projects and student loan scheme.

The governor said the removal of fuel subsidy had increased the resources available to state governments to execute developmental projects, adding that his administration had benefited from the reforms in implementing infrastructure projects across Ondo State.

He cited the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and the proposed Badagry-Sokoto Highway as examples of major infrastructure projects being pursued by the Federal Government.

Aiyedatiwa also described the student loan scheme as an intervention that could widen access to tertiary education and promote human capital development.

“When a nation is fully educated, you have delivered that nation from poverty and ignorance,” he said.

The governor assured members of the movement of adequate security and an enabling environment to carry out their activities across the state.

He urged the group to extend its mobilisation efforts to support other APC candidates contesting for seats in the Senate, House of Representatives and Ondo State House of Assembly.

Earlier, the delegation, led by Chief Kestin Ebimorbowei Pondi, who represented the movement’s convener and Director-General, Ekpemupolo, visited the Government House, the Council of Obas Secretariat and Democracy Park in Akure.

In his address, Pondi, the Managing Director of Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, said the 26 vehicles would facilitate the movement’s door-to-door campaign across the state.

He said the campaign would take the message of Tinubu’s re-election to homes, churches, mosques, markets and riverine communities.

Pondi challenged members of the movement to mobilise more than one million votes for the president in Ondo State during the January 16, 2027 presidential election.

Also speaking, the Ondo State APC Chairman, Kolawole Babatunde, said the party had structures across the state to mobilise support for Tinubu.

He urged party members to intensify grassroots mobilisation ahead of the general elections.

The movement’s National Coordinator, Comrade Sunday Asuko, also called on Nigerians to support Tinubu and other APC candidates in the 2027 elections.

Asuko urged voters to scrutinise the records of opposition politicians seeking to replace the current administration.

At the Council of Obas Secretariat, the Olowo of Owo, Oba Ajibade Gbadegesin Ogunoye, who spoke on behalf of traditional rulers, assured the president of Ondo State’s support, describing Tinubu as their son.

The monarch also commended Aiyedatiwa’s administration and described the removal of fuel subsidy as a necessary reform that had increased the funds available to state governments for development.

Dignitaries at the event included Deputy Governor, Dr Olayide Adelami; Director-General of the 2027 Presidential Election Campaign Council in Ondo State, Victor Olabimtan; Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Olamide Oladiji; and Secretary to the State Government, Dr Taiwo Fasoranti.