Details have emerged on how President Bola Tinubu and his party, the All Progressives Congress, are building a movement to secure bloc votes from the South and North-Central regions ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Insiders at the APC secretariat said the move was designed to guarantee victory for the President despite growing resistance from some parts of the North.
Sunday PUNCH gathered that the plan, described by one principal party official as a “materialising countermeasure”, began more than five months ago.
The strategy, the official explained, was conceived after intelligence reports indicated potential political threats from the core North and the emergence of the African Democratic Party-led coalition of opposition leaders.
The party chieftain named the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila; Chairman of the APC Governors’ Forum, Hope Uzodimma; National Secretary of the APC, Ajibola Basiru; and the lawmaker representing Ikeja Federal Constituency, James Faleke, as the brains behind the plan.
Northern resistance
Over the past few months, top northern groups, particularly the Northern Elders Forum and the Arewa Consultative Forum, have expressed displeasure with Tinubu’s administration, declaring that they might not support him for a second term.
The groups have, at different times, accused Tinubu of marginalising the region in political appointments, project distribution and efforts to tackle insecurity.
Similarly, political figures such as a former Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai; former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami; former APC National Vice Chairman (North-West), Salihu Lukman; and other loyalists of the late President Muhammadu Buhari have been mobilising northerners against the President.
Data from the Independent National Electoral Commission show that of the 8,794,726 votes Tinubu polled in 2023, 5,346,686 came from the North, underscoring how crucial the region remains to his political survival.
Tinubu won six northern states: Jigawa, Zamfara, Kogi, Niger, Benue and Borno, while the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, polled 5,229,473 votes in the region, winning Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Kaduna, Gombe, Yobe, Bauchi, Adamawa and Taraba states.
South, North-Central as power base
To cushion the effect of northern pushback, findings showed that the APC has intensified efforts to consolidate Tinubu’s control of the South and the North-Central.
Speaking with Sunday PUNCH, the APC official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said the ruling party’s game plan was designed to ensure that all states in the South are secured for Tinubu in 2027.
“The motive behind this move is that no opposition should win any state in the South, to guard against what we experienced in 2023,” he said.
In 2023, Atiku won Osun, Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa states in the South with 637,196 votes.
The Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, won Lagos, Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo, Abia, Anambra, Delta, Cross River and Edo states.
The party source said the goal was to flip those states won in the South through “targeted alliances, elite outreach and federal influence”.
The source attributed the recent defections of PDP governors in the South to the “materialisation of the countermeasure”, saying everything was in place for the APC to win the region.
“The team has successfully delivered the South to the President. There is nothing stopping us from winning all the southern states. Except for Abia and Oyo, all other states in the South are now with the APC.
“The Governor of Osun State declared support for Asiwaju (the President) and was willing to join the APC. Once we secure the targeted bloc votes in the South, we are 50 per cent down the victory line,” the APC official said.
When contacted to give more insight into the APC’s moves to win the key Southern and North-Central states lost in the 2023 presidential election, the party’s National Secretary, Basiru, simply said, “I don’t discuss strategy on the pages of newspapers. Thank you.”
Efforts to get further reactions from the APC Director of Publicity, Bala Ibrahim, proved abortive as he did not pick calls or respond to text and WhatsApp messages sent to him.
Aside from losing nine Southern states, including Lagos, Tinubu also lost key North-Central states in the 2023 election, with Peter Obi winning Plateau, Nasarawa and the Federal Capital Territory.
Speaking with Sunday PUNCH, a senior APC official said the party had, over the past few months, made strategic moves to reclaim the lost North-Central states ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
The source said, “According to the plan on the ground, the North-Central is targeted to be the final straw that will break the camel’s back. I am aware that the team has commissioned some individuals in the region to ensure that the President secures bloc votes from there.
“Once we secure the South and the North-Central, whatever votes any opposing candidate gets from the North-East and North-West will be neutralised, and we will carry the day. Do not forget that the Vice President is from Borno, and there are efforts to ensure substantial votes from Kaduna State. The team is working hard to deliver as planned.”
Party eyes 90% votes
Speaking with Sunday PUNCH, the Chairman of the North-Central APC Forum, Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, said leaders of the party from the region were working “hand in hand with the Presidency and the APC national secretariat” to ensure the region is delivered for the APC in 2027.
He said the target of the APC leadership was to secure 80–90 per cent of the region’s votes for the President.
Zazzaga said, “We have been engaged in different consultations. We are meeting with clerics, youth organisations and other groups. The task is to deliver the North-Central for the President, and we are all working to give him a massive vote.
“Since the commencement of democracy in 1999, we have not had any president who has given the North-Central special treatment like Tinubu. He has been fixing our infrastructure and has given us many juicy appointments.
“We have the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission and the APC National Chairman. With our ongoing efforts, we are going to give him 80–90 per cent of our votes.”
Asked if the Presidency or the national secretariat was coordinating the task, Zazzaga said, “We are working hand in hand with the national secretariat and the Presidency.”
He added that some businessmen and other notable individuals in the North-Central were involved in the task of delivering the region for the President.
Zazzaga also expressed optimism that a candidate from the North-Central would succeed Tinubu after his second term in 2031.
0 Comments