VIDEO: ‘I won’t go everywhere with you’, Tinubu tells APC campaign team

President Bola Tinubu has told the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council not to expect him at every campaign event ahead of the 2027 general election, saying the running of the country and its financial commitments must come first.

He made the remark on Wednesday in Abuja at the inauguration of the council, which is to lead the party’s campaign for the election. He asked its members to carry the party’s message to Nigerians in the states and local government areas while he attends to governance.

Tinubu said he shared the concerns of those who had cautioned that the demands of electioneering should not take his attention away from running the country.

“You’ve warned me not to allow the rigour of the campaign to distract me from governance, I hear you. I am in full agreement with your decision. Nigeria needs more attention now,” Tinubu said.

He said his administration had bills to settle and international financial obligations to meet, and asked council members to excuse his absence from some of their engagements.

“So, you will excuse me from going everywhere with you, we have bills to pay. The American creditors cannot wait,” the President said.

The president said his government also needed to attract investors ready to make long-term commitments in the country.

“We want those investors to come in, be here to stay, to invest for the future of our children,” he said.

He assured Nigerians that his reduced presence on the campaign trail would not cut him off from them.

“However, I will still make time to speak directly with Nigerians, even as you lead the campaign in the states and local government areas,” he said.

Tinubu described the inauguration as more than a routine party event, saying it marked a renewed pledge to the people and to the responsibilities that come with being the ruling party.

“We have not gathered merely to inaugurate a council. We have gathered to renew a covenant. A covenant with Nigerian people and the historic responsibility they have entrusted to us as Nigeria’s governing party,” he said.

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According to him, the council’s job is to present the administration’s vision, achievements and plans to voters across the country.

“This council will carry our vision, our records and our agenda to every Nigerian, and it will carry them to victory every ward of this country,” Tinubu said.

The president also praised party members for completing the APC congresses. He noted that some observers had predicted internal crises during the exercise, but said the party came through united, and he credited members who took part from the ward level to the national leadership.

“ They said there will be implosion. We passed through it. We did not fail. You didn’t let us down. We got here together,” he said.