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• VP urges peaceful, issue-based mobilisation
From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Transport operators across Nigeria have set an ambitious target of mobilising more than 20 million votes for President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima in the 2027 presidential election, as they inaugurated a nationwide political structure extending from the national level to grassroots communities.
The Transporters for Tinubu/Shettima 2027 (TFT 2027) unveiled its national working committee and structures across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory on Monday at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.
The group said its mobilisation machinery would eventually extend to the 774 local government areas and grassroots political units across the country, with plans also underway to develop a digital membership database for transport operators.
Vice President Kashim Shettima, while inaugurating the structure, charged members of the organisation to pursue their political mobilisation peacefully and responsibly, warning against intimidation, misinformation, violence and other forms of electoral misconduct.
Speaking through his Deputy Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Hadeija, the Vice President said the enormous reach and influence of transport operators across Nigeria placed a responsibility on them to promote national unity and responsible political participation.
“As you set out for this nationwide assignment, I appeal to each of you to remember that political participation places an obligation on those who organise others,” he said.
Shettima stressed that no political ambition was worth pursuing through disorder or fear.
“No political objective is improved by disorder, and no democratic process is strengthened by fear,” Shettima said.
According to him, elections must not be treated as warfare but as a democratic process through which Nigerians freely express their interests and preferences.
“Nigeria’s future must be argued in the open, tested by citizens and decided through credible elections,” he added.
Technical Adviser on Transportation, Logistics and Innovation in the Office of the Vice President, Segun Obayendo, said the formation of TFT 2027 was aimed at converting the vast numerical strength of transport operators into an organised and coordinated political force.
He said the group had initially projected a mobilisation target of about eight million votes but increased the figure to more than 20 million following the expansion of its structures nationwide.
“We are looking at over 20 million as the bottom line,” Obayendo declared.
He said transport operators had, over the years, supported different governments individually but had failed to maximise their collective political influence because they operated without a coordinated structure.
“The transporters you are seeing today are not the transporters of yesteryears. They were working individually, supporting every government of the day, but because they were working individually, they hardly got the full-blown dividend of democracy.
“But now we have come together. This is the game changer,” he said.
Obayendo explained that the organisation was building a structure from the national level to the states, the FCT, the 774 local government areas and grassroots political units.
He said the group was also developing a digital database that would help organise and coordinate its members nationwide.
“We started putting our structures together and realised that politics without structure is labour without coordination. Without structure, it is as good as praying for the wind or walking into the dark,” he said.
Shettima, meanwhile, described the transportation sector as central to Nigeria’s economic development and productivity, noting that the movement of agricultural produce, manufactured goods, traders and students depended largely on an efficient transport system.
He said the Tinubu administration had recognised the strategic importance of connectivity and was investing in highways, rail corridors, ports, clean mobility and logistics infrastructure.
“The administration has treated connectivity as an economic necessity,” he said.
The Vice President also urged transport operators to see themselves as ambassadors of the country by prioritising passenger safety, compliance with traffic regulations and improved road safety.
He challenged them to embrace emerging technologies transforming the transportation sector, saying their participation and engagement would be critical to the future of the industry.
Obayendo also expressed the transporters’ support for the Federal Government’s transportation reforms, particularly the transition to Compressed Natural Gas, which he said was opening up fresh economic opportunities for operators.
He acknowledged the difficulties associated with the removal of fuel subsidy but maintained that the previous subsidy regime had become unsustainable.
“Our resources are not elastic,” he said.
According to him, the expanding CNG value chain and the planned deployment of additional CNG-powered buses would provide opportunities for Nigerians while helping to address transportation challenges.
Deputy National Organising Secretary of APC,
Emeka Okafor, on his part applauded the commitment and support of the group for the re-election of President Tinubu, noting that the administration’s performance across different sectors was a justification for his re-election.
He urged the group to leverage the platform and their network to galvanise nationwide support for the President and candidates of the party across all levels in the 2027 general elections.
The leadership of the group subsequently directed members to return to their respective states and commence the implementation of the nationwide mobilisation strategy ahead of the 2027 elections.
