Opposition figures, including Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Nyesom Wike and Anambra State Governor Charles Soludo, on Wednesday joined President Bola Tinubu’s Presidential Campaign Council as the All Progressives Congress intensified preparations for the 2027 general election.
The three politicians, who belong to the Accord Party, Peoples Democratic Party and All Progressives Grand Alliance respectively, pledged support for Tinubu’s re-election at the inauguration of the council at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.
Their participation in the campaign has given the APC an opportunity to showcase a broadening political alliance ahead of the election, although opposition leaders have dismissed the gathering as a coalition of political interests incapable of erasing the economic hardship and insecurity confronting Nigerians.
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde were among the prominent opposition figures who criticised the enlarged council, with Atiku accusing Tinubu of using political defections to distract attention from his administration’s record.
Tinubu, who was inaugurated as the council’s chairman, urged party leaders and campaign coordinators to secure victory without allowing electioneering to undermine governance.
He said he would not accompany the campaign team on its nationwide tours, insisting that his responsibilities as President required his continued attention.
“You have warned me and asked me not to allow the rigour 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,” he said.
The President added that government business would continue throughout the campaign, noting that the country had obligations to meet and creditors to pay.
He, however, warned the APC against complacency, insisting that the party’s political strength would be judged by its ability to deliver votes at the grassroots.
“Until you deliver the next election, until you deliver your wards, until you deliver the votes, before we can say thank you,” Tinubu told members of the council.
The President also promised that state police would become a reality and expressed confidence that legislation providing reserved seats for women would eventually be passed.
The inauguration, held under the theme, “Renewed Hope, Cooperative Federalism and Shared Prosperity,” attracted Vice-President Kashim Shettima, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, House of Representatives Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, APC National Chairman Nentawe Yilwatda and Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum Hope Uzodimma, among other party leaders.
Adeleke, Wike, Soludo pledge support
Adeleke, who was elected Osun governor on the platform of the PDP before moving to the Accord Party, defended the continuation of Tinubu’s reform programme, arguing that four years would not be sufficient to deliver its intended 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, expressing confidence that Tinubu would return to Aso Rock after the election.
Wike, a PDP member and former Rivers State governor who has remained at odds with sections of his party’s leadership, pledged to deliver Rivers State and the Federal Capital Territory for Tinubu.
He said he had learnt of his appointment as campaign director for the two territories through a newspaper but accepted the responsibility.
“For me, as an opposition party member, as the leader of the Peoples Democratic Party, there are not two leaders of the PDP. I’m the leader of the PDP, so I speak on behalf of the Peoples Democratic Party,” Wike said. He added, “Rivers and FCT will vote massively for Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
Soludo, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, declared the support of APGA, arguing that the party’s progressive credentials aligned it with Tinubu’s political project.
He described the gathering as an unprecedented demonstration of political consensus and cited the presence of about 33 of Nigeria’s 36 governors.
“There is nowhere for changing a winning team. If it’s not broken, why mend it? Count on us in APGA 24/7. We are with you because we believe,” Soludo said.
Senate President Akpabio similarly described the event as a coalition of winning political forces, claiming that the breadth of support assembled by the APC was unprecedented.
Shettima attacks Atiku, Obi
Shettima used his address to launch a verbal assault on opposition presidential hopefuls Atiku and Peter Obi, questioning their economic proposals and accusing them of relying on inappropriate comparisons with other countries.
He mocked Atiku’s proposal for production subsidies, arguing that the former vice-president’s position represented an ideological shift from his long-standing association with capitalism.
“Who pays? Who benefits? And which competing priorities must surrender their funding? A change of ideological wardrobe cannot balance a national budget,” Shettima said.
He also criticised Obi, describing him as “the master of bogus statistics and incoherent economic prescriptions” and faulting his comparisons between Nigeria and Bangladesh
The Vice-President argued that Nigeria’s population, economic structure and institutions differed significantly from those of other countries, making direct policy comparisons inadequate without accounting for local conditions.
The remarks underscored the APC’s strategy of presenting the 2027 election as a contest between the continuation of Tinubu’s reforms and what it portrays as the uncertainty of opposition alternatives.
APC urges campaigners to defend Tinubu’s record
Yilwatda urged council members to communicate the administration’s achievements in infrastructure, including roads, power, gas, railways, ports, agriculture and digital connectivity.
He said campaigners must explain how government investments and reforms would translate into practical improvements in Nigerians’ lives.
However, the APC chairman acknowledged that the administration faced challenges and urged campaign officials to address concerns about the cost of living, security, employment, education, healthcare and agricultural productivity.
“Confidence is not complacency. It is the determination to prepare thoroughly, work together and earn the trust of the people,” he said.
The Director-General of the council, Abdulaziz Yari, pledged to work with members to secure Tinubu’s re-election, while the President’s Special Adviser on Political and Other Matters, Ibrahim Masari, predicted that the council would outperform all opposition parties combined.
Atiku, Makinde reject APC’s political alliance
Atiku, through his campaign spokesman, Phrank Shaibu, described the enlarged council as evidence of Tinubu’s fear of electoral defeat.
“Only a man afraid of his record would think he could bury it under hundreds of names. Tinubu can gather every governor, minister and political defector in Nigeria. None of them can erase the hunger in people’s homes,” Shaibu said.
He also condemned the use of the Presidential Villa for the APC political event, describing it as a breach of public trust.
Atiku cited the 2026 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index, which he said recorded an additional 17.9 million Nigerians in multidimensional poverty, arguing that the size of a campaign council would not determine the outcome of the election.
Makinde’s campaign organisation also dismissed the APC council as a “coalition of failed politicians,” predicting that it would not prevent Tinubu’s defeat.
In a statement by its Director of Strategic Communications, Richard Ihediwa, the organisation blamed the administration for worsening insecurity, economic hardship, youth unemployment and declining public confidence.
It questioned how the APC would defend its record on poverty and education, citing a Federal Government disclosure that 70 per cent of Nigerian children under the age of 10 could not read and understand a simple sentence.
The organisation argued that political alliances could not substitute for accountability and measurable improvements in living standards.
The confrontation sets the stage for an increasingly combative election campaign, with the APC banking on political consolidation and the defence of Tinubu’s reforms, while its opponents are seeking to turn economic hardship and insecurity into central issues in the contest.
Tinubu emerged as the APC’s presidential candidate on May 24 and retained Shettima as his running mate on July 10. The campaign council was constituted on August 22, with a revised membership list released on Tuesday adding Wike, Soludo and Adeleke.
