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•Gov Biodun’s reelection campaign council kicks off
From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has begun early mobilisation for the 2027 general elections with the party projecting that the South West alone would deliver at least 10 million votes for President Bola Tinubu.
This projection was disclosed yesterday by Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, during the inauguration of a 57-member governorship campaign council in Ado Ekiti ahead of the state’s June 20 poll.
Bamidele, who chairs the APC campaign for the re-election of Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, said the party had already begun mapping out strategies to strengthen its grassroots mobilisation across the six South West states.
According to him, the Ekiti governorship election would not only test the popularity of the incumbent governor but would also serve as a springboard for the party’s broader electoral ambitions in 2027.
“As a party of conviction and vision, we have already set a target ahead of the 2027 elections,” Bamidele said, adding, “We have designed a mobilisation plan to deliver at least 10 million votes for President Bola Tinubu in the six states of the South West alone.”
The Senate Leader stressed that achieving the target would depend largely on aggressive voter mobilisation, particularly participation in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.
With Ekiti’s population estimated at about 3.8 million people, Bamidele noted that the state currently has just 987,647 registered voters based on 2023 records, a figure he said leaves significant room for expansion.
“As leaders of the APC, the onus now rests upon us to embark on purpose-driven mobilisation of our members and neighbours to ensure they enrol for the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration.
“If we are truly committed to this task, we can increase our enrollment by 50 percent in August when the exercise will be suspended,” he said.
He urged party members to intensify grassroots outreach, saying mobilisation must go beyond political meetings to everyday community interactions.
“As we approach the 2027 elections, we must go house-to-house, street-to-street and community-to-community to mobilise our brothers and sisters, our fathers and mothers, to enrol for the CVR.
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“We must target our colleagues at work, our next-door neighbours and our relations. It is a huge task that we must all take seriously ahead of the next general elections,” he said.
He also predicted a comfortable victory for the APC in Ekiti’s forthcoming governorship election, describing the contest as a referendum on Oyebanji’s performance in office.
“The June 20 election will be a referendum to affirm and confirm the leadership of Governor Biodun Oyebanji in the state,” he said.
He argued that the governor’s record since he assumed office had been unmatched in the state’s history. He said Oyebanji had been “consciously paddling the oars of our state with courage and vision, confidence and synergy and with patriotism and unalloyed commitment to the well-being of over 3.8 million residents of our state.”
He expressed confidence that the APC would secure a landslide victory, promising to deliver a 90 percent margin for the party and its candidate.
“We must work together as one indivisible party and approach the election in the spirit of harmony, oneness and unity,” he told party leaders and members. “This is the path to our victory and we must keep to this path until we clinch the trophy.”
The campaign council inauguration attracted several prominent figures in the party and government, including Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Monisade Afuye; Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Adeoye Aribasoye; the APC’s national secretary, Ajibola Basiru and Chairman of the Board of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Dayo Adeyeye, among others.
Responding, Governor Oyebanji thanked Bamidele for his continued support and pledged to run an issue-based campaign focused on governance and development.
The governor said his re-election campaign would prioritise policy discussions and engagement with voters rather than political attacks.
“We will focus on engaging voters on our policies, programmes and development plans for the state rather than personal attacks.”
Oyebanji also urged candidates of other political parties participating in the election to comply fully with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 to ensure a peaceful and credible process.
According to him, strict adherence to electoral laws and constitutional provisions would help guarantee transparency and stability during the campaign period.
