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From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The composition of what could pass for an intimidating 138-member high-profile National Campaign Committee by the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC), primarily to prosecute the just concluded Federal Capital Territory (FCT), area council elections, was clearly a confirmation of the importance the ruling party now attaches to winning every election.
Except for President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima, who may be operating from the background, every other notable political figure and chieftain of the ruling party was conscripted into the APC’s FCT Campaign Committee, with a clear mandate to ensure an outright victory for the party in all six area councils during the poll.
At the end, although it won five of the six area councils, its victory was a clear departure from what happened in 2022, when as a ruling party, it struggled to win three out the six councils.
The committee’s membership was drawn from both chambers of the National Assembly, APC governors’ forum, the Presidency, members of the Federal Executive Council, renowned retired security personnel and experts, former appointive and elective political office holders and all the members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC).
Led by the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, the team included Akpabio’s deputy, Senator Jubril Barau, House of Representatives Speaker, Rt Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, and his deputy, Rt Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, who took charge of logistics as the Campaign Council’s General Secretary.
Others are: Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq of Kwara State, who led the committee alongside co-chairmen like the APC Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) chairman, Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, Mai Mala-Buni of Yobe, and Mohammed Umaru Bago of Niger State among other 21 of their colleague governors.
Additionally, members of the President Tinubu’s cabinet were also part of the campaign council. They are: Engr. David Umahi, his counterpart in Budget and National Planning, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, Minister of State for Defence, and Bello Muhammad Matawalle among many others.
Above all other considerations, Daily Sun gathered that the composition of the campaign committee, is synonymous with killing an ant with a sledge hammer, a development that equally underscored the intensity of the deadly rivalry between the ruling party and the opposition coalition party, the African Democratic Congress (ADC). The two parties showed that they were determined to use the FCT poll as a test of their strength, ahead of the ultimate battle in 2027 general elections.
The APC believes that a victory in FCT council election, will set the stage for its decisive victory at the 2027 general elections, particularly the presidential poll.
Expectedly, ADC chieftain and 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, had embarked on a campaign to deliver the candidates of the ADC at the polls.
To further underscore the enormity and importance the ruling party attached to the Area Council elections, speaker after speaker during the inauguration of the committee, shortly before the election, took time to re-emphasise the battle readiness and watertight plans in place to settle for nothing other than victory at the polls.
While explaining the reasons behind the composition of the committee, the party’s national chairman, Prof. Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, in his opening remarks during the inauguration, insisted that it must be a total victory for the party.
He described the Area Council election as a strategic political contest that requires unity, coordination, and effective grassroots mobilisation across all six councils, informing the committee that their appointment is a demonstration of trust and confidence in their loyalty to the party.
His words: “This party is your home. The campaign council will focus on two major objectives — aggressive mobilisation of voters and deployment of well-articulated strategies to secure victory on election day. The composition of the Campaign Council reflects Nigeria’s geopolitical diversity, because Abuja is home to residents from all parts of the country,” he explained further.
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Justifying the rather overblown membership list, he said “FCT belongs to all Nigerians. If we execute our strategies effectively and work as one united party, victory is assured. With the commitment of the party leaders and supporters, APC will emerge victorious in the Area Council election.
“The strength of the APC is not in the number of people decamping but in the number of seats they will win. The party lost the FCT in the last election, but is happy that most of the stakeholders who were in the opposition then have returned to the party.
“We will use all strategic means to mobilise for the party. The governors were chosen from each zone so as to ensure they mobilise the residents from their zones to win for the party. If we strategise properly and work towards it, the FCT is ours to win. I want to win all six Area Councils. We will move from house to house to ensure that we win the elections,” he said.
In his remarks, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, the chairman of the APC Campaign Council, had promised to deliver victory for the party, assuring that members would mobilise voters and strengthen grassroots structures to secure success at the polls.
“I commend President Tinubu in reshaping the country, including enhancing the security of lives and property to ensure that the APC is not just a party of today, but one that will shape the country in the future. The members will move from house to house to mobilise residents to vote for the ruling party,” he said.
On his part, Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives and the campaign committee scribe, Kalu, had promised to mobilise the entire South -Easterners resident in Abuja to vote for his party, APC, and described the elections as a must-win for the ruling party.
Speaking to newsmen on the sidelines after the inauguration, he said, “There are a lot of Igbo people living in Abuja. Just as there are others from other parts of the country also residing here, because FCT is the melting pot for the entire population of Nigeria from all geopolitical zones. But a lot of Igbos are doing business and making their investments as residents.
“I am an Igbo man and a Nigerian, and I am part of this government. I am one of the faces of Igbos in leadership. So no longer can Igbos say we are not part of this administration. This did not happen in the previous administration because there was no Igbo person in the successive leadership of the country for eight years.
“Now they see me every day participating in the governance of this country. And I know that is a big message to my people, that they are not alienated, that they are not marginalised out of the current government. That is a campaign tool already for this administration,” he defended his inclusion and role in the committee.
And staking his neck further on why the FCT must vote to ensure victory for his party, Kalu said: “This administration has made a huge impact in the FCT. There is a great difference from what it used to be. I also thank the Minister, Nyesom Wike, who has done tremendously well in not just impacting the urban areas but making those at the grassroots feel governance.
“These are our campaign tools. That is what we are taking to the market beyond the posters, radio jingles, and campaign slogans. The fact speaks for itself. You can feel our development, touch, and experience what we have brought as dividends of democracy. There are going to be fewer jobs for us to do.
“Yes, we struggled previously because of no visible evidence of government impact in FCT. But no reasonable person can say so presently. We will convince our people that this government, having done this for the residents of FCT, will do more if given the opportunity to provide leadership in the six Area Councils and 68 council members of the FCT,” he promised.
The deputy speaker equally revealed how they intend to actualise the mission, noting that “I am the secretary of this campaign council, and I can assure you that we will bring the energy of the young minds, the innovative mindedness of the young people to push the agenda to the grassroots.
“We will be on the streets. We will be in every household. We will go door to door, business to business, to sell the message of APC. It will no longer be mentioned that APC lost the election in Abuja. That was in the time past. We are about to rewrite history. My people that I love so much, my Igbo people that I love and who love me, will not allow me to be ashamed knowing full well that I am at the helm of affairs to make sure that we harvest the bulk vote of the Igbo communities in Abuja for the greatest party within the black race that is called the APC,” he said.
And in the end, the APC’s strategies appeared to have paid off, as it won five of the six Area Councils. So far, there has been no serious moves to challenge the outcome of the election. But only time will tell if the opposition will accept the outcome as the true reflection of their strength in FCT.
