With the 2027 general elections approaching, the inauguration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Presidential Campaign Council has exposed an intriguing political dynamic: opposition figures appear to be enjoying greater prominence in the President’s re-election campaign than some governors elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
At the inauguration ceremony held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday, opposition governors and political figures were given prominent speaking roles, while most APC governors in attendance watched from their seats as the event unfolded.
The development has raised questions about the place of the ruling party’s governors in the campaign structure, particularly as the APC consolidates its political strength ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Although the APC boasts of 31 governors, President Tinubu’s re-election campaign is increasingly drawing support from political figures outside the party, including governors elected on the platforms of the Accord Party and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), as well as ministers who remain members of opposition parties.
Among those who stole the show at Wednesday’s event were Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke, who belongs to the Accord Party; Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo of APGA; and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Their prominent roles at the ceremony underscored the Presidency’s strategy of building a broad coalition of support for Tinubu’s second-term ambition, even as it raised questions about the political implications for APC governors and party loyalists.
The only APC governor singled out for a prominent role in the proceedings was Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, who also serves as chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum.
Adeleke dances his way into the spotlight
Adeleke was the first to address the gathering, making a dramatic entrance with his trademark dance moves to Feel, a song by his nephew and Afrobeats star, Davido. A viral video of the performance showed the Osun governor dancing his way to the podium as the audience cheered. He later joined Tinubu in dancing, drawing further applause from those present.
Beyond the entertainment, Adeleke delivered a political message that aligned him firmly with the President’s re-election bid, arguing that four years would not be enough for the administration’s economic reforms to produce the desired results.
“We must give our father, the President of this nation, time for his reform to work. It’s not easy. Four years is not enough,” he said.
The governor, who was elected on the platform of the PDP in 2022 before joining the Accord Party, declared that he was prepared to mobilise support for Tinubu’s return to the Presidential Villa.
“That is why I’m here to throw my weight. Nobody can stop this movement. We’re going to sing, we’re going to dance all the way back to Aso Rock,” he said.
Adeleke further entertained the audience by singing in Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa, with several attendees, including APC governors, joining in or clapping along.
His prominence at the event was not accidental. A revised campaign council list released on Tuesday named him as Tinubu’s campaign coordinator in Osun State, despite his membership of the Accord Party.
The decision, Daily Trust gathered, has already generated disquiet among some APC members in Osun, where the ruling party is seeking to strengthen its position ahead of the next general election.
Adeleke’s appointment illustrates the extent to which Tinubu’s campaign is prepared to reach beyond the APC’s traditional political structure in pursuit of electoral support.
Soludo makes case for Tinubu’s re-election
Soludo, another opposition governor who featured prominently at the event, also used music and political messaging to rally support for Tinubu.
The Anambra governor, elected on the platform of APGA, said his party was backing the President because it believed in national unity, security and shared prosperity. He described the gathering as evidence of an unusually broad convergence of political and elite opinion around Tinubu, pointing to the large number of governors and political leaders in attendance.
“There has been no time in our history where you have such a constellation, a consensus of opinion that one man deserves to be re-elected in this country,” Soludo said.
The governor of Anambra, where Peter Obi, a frontline candidate in the 2027 Presidential election, hails from, urged the APC and other progressive political parties to recognise APGA as a partner in the coalition supporting the President’s re-election.
According to him, Tinubu’s economic reforms, although difficult, were necessary and should be sustained to achieve the desired transformation.
Soludo warned political leaders against missing what he described as an opportunity to build a new Nigeria, insisting that his party was ready to work with the President.
“We are with you. We are a partner in this journey back to Aso Rock,” he said.
His remarks reinforced the campaign’s message that Tinubu’s re-election bid would be built not only around the APC but also around a wider network of political allies.
Wike challenges APC governors
While Adeleke and Soludo brought music and endorsements to the gathering, Wike delivered a blunt message to members of the Presidential Campaign Council, including APC governors.
The FCT minister, who remains a member of the PDP despite his support for Tinubu, warned that the positions and titles held by campaign council members would count for little if they failed to deliver electoral victories for the President in their respective states.
Wike, who was named campaign coordinator for Rivers State and the FCT, pledged to work towards delivering both areas for Tinubu in 2027.
He said the overriding objective of the campaign should be the President’s re-election rather than the status or offices occupied by those involved.
“If you don’t deliver your state and the President wins, don’t say we have won. It is not a question of ‘I am chairman of this’, ‘I am secretary of this’, ‘I am a member of this’. What is important is for the President to win,” he said.
Wike extended the argument to the President’s closest aides, using Lagos State as an example of the need for campaign officials to demonstrate electoral strength in their home states.
“I told the Chief of Staff to the President the other day: as Chief of Staff, if the President don’t win in Lagos, don’t say we have won, because you did not win,” he said.
The minister also defended his decision to support Tinubu despite remaining in the opposition PDP, arguing that belonging to an opposition party should not mean automatically rejecting government policies.
Wike’s remarks placed the spotlight on the practical demands of the re-election campaign and challenged political officeholders to demonstrate their value through votes rather than titles.
A wider political coalition
The prominence given to Adeleke, Soludo and Wike reflects the Presidency’s efforts to broaden Tinubu’s political support ahead of the 2027 election.
APC National Chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, said the party had approached Adeleke and other political figures outside its ranks to secure their support for the President’s re-election.
The appointments of Adeleke as campaign coordinator in Osun, Soludo in Anambra and Wike in the FCT and Rivers State demonstrate how the campaign intends to deploy political networks beyond the ruling party.
The strategy could help Tinubu appeal to voters outside the APC’s core support base. However, it also presents a delicate balancing act for the party, whose governors and other loyalists may expect to play central roles in a campaign for an incumbent president elected on the party’s platform.
For APC governors, the question is not simply whether Tinubu can attract endorsements from opposition figures, but how those alliances will translate into electoral gains and what they mean for the influence of party members who have remained loyal to the ruling platform.
With the 2027 elections approaching, Wednesday’s inauguration offered a glimpse of a campaign in which political affiliations appear increasingly secondary to electoral calculations.
For much of the ceremony, the APC governors remained seated as opposition figures commanded the microphone, the applause and the attention.
Whether the strategy will strengthen Tinubu’s re-election prospects without alienating members of his own party remains one of the political questions the campaign will have to navigate in the months ahead.