…Shettima, Uzodimma,Wike, Adeleke, Soludo Rally Support for President’s Re-election Bid
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has inaugurated the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) for the 2027 general election, calling on party leaders and members to demonstrate unity, discipline and commitment as they prepare to seek a fresh mandate from Nigerians.
At the inauguration ceremony held at the State House Conference Centre in Abuja on Wednesday, the President expressed confidence in the party’s readiness to prosecute the campaign, stressing that electoral victory would depend on collective responsibility, effective mobilisation and the ability to deliver votes across wards, local government areas and states.
Tinubu thanked party leaders and supporters for their contributions during the last election but cautioned that the task remained incomplete until the party secured another victory in 2027.
“I thank all of you for the last election, but no one gets credit for an incomplete assignment until you deliver the next election, until you deliver your electoral wards, until you deliver the votes,” he said.
The President also acknowledged the advice of the Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum and Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma, who urged him to remain focused on governance and avoid allowing the demands of political campaigns to distract him from his responsibilities to the country.
Tinubu described the counsel as timely, assuring that although the campaign council would lead political mobilisation nationwide, he would continue engaging directly with Nigerians while pursuing the administration’s economic and development priorities.
“We have bills to pay. The American creditors cannot wait. We want those investors to come in and invest for the future of our children,” the President said, underscoring the importance of maintaining investor confidence and sustaining economic reforms.
He charged members of the council to conduct their activities responsibly, engage Nigerians constructively and communicate the policies and achievements of his administration under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
Vice President Kashim Shettima, in his remarks, commended Tinubu’s courage and commitment to democratic development, citing his support for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s presidential ambition in 2007 under the platform of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria.
Shettima also defended the dignity of the presidential office amid the controversy surrounding Atiku’s reference to President Tinubu by his first name.
“You can call him Bola, if you like, call him Adekunle, but he is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the Vice President said.
He further criticised the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Movement, Peter Obi, accusing him of using misleading statistics and making comparisons between Nigeria and other countries without adequate context.
Earlier, APC National Chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, described the inauguration as a demonstration of the party’s collective determination to build a better Nigeria.
Yilwatda urged campaign council members to communicate the administration’s policies and achievements with clarity and confidence, while explaining how its economic reforms and investments could translate into tangible improvements in the lives of Nigerians.
He pledged that the council would mobilise voters from ward to ward, local government to local government and state to state to secure Tinubu’s re-election.
The APC chairman also cited the presence and support of Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party, Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, and Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike, a prominent Peoples Democratic Party figure, as evidence of broader political support for the President.
He called for a peaceful, issue-based campaign centred on records, policies and competing visions for the country.
Governor Uzodimma, who also serves as secretary of the Presidential Campaign Council, assured Tinubu that the governors and other party leaders would work to communicate the administration’s programmes and mobilise support for its second-term bid.
He praised the President for confronting longstanding economic challenges, particularly the removal of petrol subsidies and the unification of the foreign exchange market, which he said previous administrations had struggled to address.
According to Uzodimma, the reforms required political courage despite their immediate economic consequences for Nigerians.
He also commended the administration’s tax reforms and cited economic growth figures as evidence of progress, while acknowledging that the reforms had brought hardship and inconvenience to sections of the population.
The governor maintained that the campaign would be issue-based, with the council explaining the rationale for the reforms, acknowledging existing challenges and presenting the administration’s vision for the country’s future.
In their goodwill messages, Governors Adeleke and Soludo, alongside Wike, expressed support for Tinubu’s re-election in 2027.
Adeleke drew enthusiastic reactions from the audience with his trademark dance steps, while Wike defended his support for the President despite his association with the PDP, arguing that Tinubu had demonstrated the political will to confront problems previous administrations had left unresolved.
Wike also challenged governors to ensure that their respective states delivered electoral support for the President in the forthcoming election.
Other speakers, including Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas, Special Adviser to the President on Political Affairs Ibrahim Kabiru Masari, and elder statesman Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, called on Nigerians to support Tinubu for a second term to consolidate the administration’s reform agenda.
The inauguration formally sets the APC’s presidential campaign machinery in motion ahead of the 2027 general election, with the party pledging to combine nationwide political mobilisation with continued governance and a campaign focused on its record, policies and development plans.
