2027: I won’t abandon governance for campaigns — Tinubu

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said he would not abandon governance for campaigns while seeking a fresh mandate in the January presidential election.

Tinubu gave the assurance on Wednesday at the inauguration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), which he will chair.

President Tinubu noted that the rigours of campaigning must not distract him from his responsibilities as President.

Apparently responding to a request by Imo State Governor and PCC Secretary, Senator Hope Uzodimma, that he leave campaign activities to the campaign team, Tinubu told a gathering of APC governors, members of the party’s National Working Committee and principal officers of the National Assembly that he would make time to participate in the campaigns but would refrain from criss-crossing the 36 states of the federation.

He said: “I thank the council secretary and the chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, Governor Uzodinma, for all the commendable things he has done. I do not take your trust lightly, and by the grace of God, I intend to keep earning it. Earning your trust is extremely important to me, all of you.

“You have warned me and asked me not to allow the rigours of the campaign to distract me from governance. I hear you. I am in full agreement with your decision. Nigeria needs more attention now than ever before. The responsibility of this office does not pause.

“That responsibility did not recognise our agenda here today. However, I will still make time to speak directly with Nigerians, even as you lead the campaign in the states and local government areas, so you will excuse me from going everywhere with you.

“We have bills to pay. The American creditors cannot wait. We want those investors to come in, be here to stay and invest for the future of our children. Let the work go out from this hall to every corner of our nation. The APC is ready.

“We have not gathered merely to inaugurate a council; we have gathered to renew a covenant with the Nigerian people and reaffirm the historic responsibility they have entrusted to us as the governing party. We promise we will not let them down. This council will carry our vision, our record and our agenda to every Nigerian, and it will carry them to victory.”

Earlier, Uzodinma, who is also chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, appealed to Tinubu not to allow campaign politics to negatively affect governance, urging him to allow the PCC to lead the campaign.

He said: “Mr President, we would like to request this of you:

“An election season has a way of consuming everything around it, and there will be no shortage of people who would like to see you spend the next three months responding to every distraction on the campaign trail. We would ask that you do not allow it to distract you from governance.

“The reforms you began need your full attention if they are to deliver everything they promise, and Nigerians will be better served by a President who keeps his hand firmly on the work of government than by one who is pulled away from it by the demands of electioneering. Please, Your Excellency, leave the heavy lifting of this campaign to us.”

The Imo State governor, who enumerated the gains of the Tinubu administration’s economic reforms, declared that the forthcoming general election would serve as a referendum on the reforms.

The PCC secretary expressed hope that Nigerians would support continuity by voting for the APC at all levels, thereby sustaining the reforms enshrined in Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

He said: “Reforms of this scale take time to mature. What has been done in these three years is the hard and largely unseen work of laying a foundation, and anyone who has ever built anything knows that the foundation is the most expensive part of the work and the part people see least.

“The question Nigerians will answer in January is whether we build on that foundation or abandon it and begin all over again. If we begin again, it is the Nigerian people who will bear the cost. We intend to put that choice before them plainly, and we are confident about the answer they will give.”

Osun State Governor and coordinator of the APC PCC in his state, Ademola Adeleke, assured APC chieftains that he would galvanise support for Tinubu’s re-election, arguing that four years would not be enough to assess the present administration.

He said: “I can see the victory in 2027. Nobody can stop this movement. I am going to lead. We will sing and dance all the way back to Aso Rock.

“Four years isn’t enough, and that’s why I am here to throw my weight behind him.

“Let us rise from all nooks and crannies to ensure his victory. Let us pray for Mr President and, by the grace of God, we shall be there.”

Anambra State Governor, Professor Charles Soludo, who belongs to the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and is the campaign coordinator in his state, also expressed support for Tinubu’s re-election. He said a fresh mandate would sustain the administration’s economic reforms and promote national unity.

He said: “We believe in the unity and shared prosperity of Nigeria, and that’s why we are with Mr President, who symbolises that unity.

“Mr President, the path you have taken in restructuring the economy is difficult but necessary. There is an elite consensus on your reforms.”

Soludo urged Tinubu to accelerate economic progress if he secured a second term in 2027.

“We are a partner in this journey back to Aso Rock,” the Anambra State governor declared.

In his remarks, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, who had been assigned the role of Rivers State coordinator by the PCC, declared that Tinubu’s record would earn him votes.

Addressing APC governors who had openly opposed his Rainbow Coalition, the FCT minister challenged them to ensure that they delivered their respective states to Tinubu.

“It is important that you deliver your states, because if you don’t deliver your state and Mr President wins, don’t say we have won. You must deliver your state,” he said.

In his acceptance speech shortly after Tinubu inaugurated the campaign team, former Zamfara State Governor and Director-General of the APC PCC, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, said the administration’s achievements over the past three years had made the campaign council’s task easier.

He expressed confidence that the electorate would vote massively for Tinubu but appealed to members of the team to avoid internal disputes.

He said: “You have made our job easier. Your achievements have been our message. Our campaigns will centre on your achievements. You have touched the lives of ordinary Nigerians. By God’s grace, we are going to deliver. By 16 January, by God’s grace, you will earn a fresh mandate.”

Earlier, in his opening remarks, the APC National Chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, appealed to members of the party’s Presidential Campaign Council to unite national and grassroots structures, communicate the achievements of Tinubu’s administration and mobilise Nigerians for his re-election in 2027.

He described the assignment as a collective responsibility requiring effective coordination, discipline, strategic communication and sustained engagement with Nigerians.

He said the party’s campaign must be anchored on the administration’s record, an honest acknowledgement of prevailing challenges and a credible vision for the country’s future.

He said: “Our responsibility is to explain what has been achieved, what is progressing and what remains to be done. We must demonstrate how these reforms and investments will translate into practical improvements in the lives of Nigerians.”