The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume and Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, have mobilised stakeholders from the North Central geopolitical zone and Rivers State towards the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima in the 2027 presidential election.
Akume, who is the Grand Patron of the North Central Grassroots Mobilisation Network and Wike yesterday were at different campaign trails in Abuja and Akpor Kingdom in Obio-Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State to shore up the grassroots base for the President.
At a strategic meeting in Abuja with the National Chairman All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda and other political stakeholders and leaders of the mobilisation network, including Governor of Nasarawa State, Alhaji Abdullahi Sule and other political stakeholders, Akume said the initiative was designed to take the campaign for the President beyond the FCT and into communities across the North-central geo- political zone.
He said the North-central Grassroots Mobilisation Network was established to mobilise support and votes across the zone for the Tinubu-Shettima ticket.
The SGF equally outlined three major activities earmarked by the network to drive its mobilisation campaign.
These included the North Central Grand Rally, scheduled for October 10, 2026, in Lafia, Nasarawa State, a comprehensive medical outreach programme to be implemented across states in the zone and a North Central Grassroots Advocacy Tour and Town Hall Meetings covering the 19 senatorial districts across the six North Central states, as well as the FCT.
According to him, the medical outreach, to entail comprehensive eye screening and treatment, including refraction and prescription of spectacles, cataract assessment and selected surgical services where facilities permit, glaucoma screening and diabetic eye screening among the services to be provided is intended to complement the political mobilisation with humanitarian services for people at the grassroots.
He stated further that the advocacy tour and town hall meetings would provide an opportunity for direct engagement with communities across the North central.
The initiative, he said, was initiated by the National Coordinator of the network and the
Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Sonny Echono, his team and other stakeholders and endorsed by the APC National Secretariat.
He urged political actors, ministers, governors, party stakeholders and grassroots leaders to approach the assignment with commitment, unity and confidence, stressing that the North-central is crucial in the 2027 electoral process.
He expressed confidence in the capacity of the region’s political structures and grassroots stakeholders to effectively organise and mobilise support for the President across communities in the zone.
In his remarks, Yilwatda stated that the North-central stakeholders had resolved to mobilise substantial support for President Tinubu ahead of the 2027 general election.
The stakeholders affirmed their commitment to working collectively across the six states of the zone and the FCT to strengthen grassroots mobilisation and demonstrate their solidarity with the President.
He said supporters and members of the APC would be mobilised from across the North-central to participate in the rally in Lafia and publicly demonstrate their support for the President, with plans for a medical outreach programme in selected communities across the zone.
He added that the stakeholders also resolved to establish a reconciliation committee to address grievances and promote unity among party members and political stakeholders across the North-central.
He said resolving internal differences would strengthen the mobilisation effort and enable stakeholders to work together ahead of the 2027 election. The group is expected to reconvene next week to intensify preparations for the Lafia rally and coordinate the broader grassroots mobilisation programme across the zone.
Echono said the mobilisation programme was aimed at uniting the North-central as a cohesive bloc while demonstrating the zone’s support for Tinubu ahead of the 2027 election.
He described the 2027 general election as an important opportunity for the geopolitical zone to strengthen its collective voice and advance its common interests within Nigeria’s political landscape.
The Chairman of the North Central Governors Forum and the Governor of Nasarawa State, Sule commended the SGF and the coordinator of the North-central mobilisation initiative for bringing stakeholders together toward ensuring the victory of the party in the forthcoming elections.
He stressed that the party has a political advantage to deliver for the APC with six states now under the APC and with a supportive Federal Capital Territory Administration, noting that the presence of the APC National Chairman and the SGF also provides additional institutional strength for the mobilisation effort.
Wike, at a strategic consultative meeting with stakeholders of the Akpor Kingdom, remarked that politics is driven by the collective interest of the people rather than perpetual animosity.
He declared that his political alignment with President Tinubu remains unshakable, rallying the political structure of Rivers State to consolidate support for the President.
He also reiterated his vow to resign as minister should the President lose FCT and Rivers.
“My interest in Rivers State is for God to use me as a vessel to help our people. I am back here not for what I will get, but for what I will be to raise my people,” Wike declared.
He maintained that expanding the political base was essential for delivering democratic dividends.
He said, “There is no permanent enemy in politics. What we have is permanent collective interest. It is all about the interest of our people. The more you are in number, the happier you become. Leadership is like a waste dustbin. If you cannot absorb things, both the good and the bad, then you cannot be a true leader.”
Wike, accompanied by the Rivers State APC governorship candidate, Kingsley Chinda and other political leaders, asserted that his return to grassroots mobilisation in Rivers State for Tinubu was to leverage his position as a vessel to uplift the state and its people.
“You know how difficult, you know how impossible it looked, but he made it possible for us to produce the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory,” Wike told the gathering.
He charged political actors in the state not to be distracted by social media criticism regarding his open-door policy toward former detractors, asserting that true political strength lies in numerical superiority.
Olawale Ajimotokan
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