Tinubu’s 12-state campaign shuttle

It is obvious that age is no longer smiling on President Bola Tinubu. He appears to lack the stamina to engage in a rigorous campaign tour of all the states of the federation. Hence, he is billed to show presence in only 12 of the 36 states during the campaign for the 2027 presidential election.

His memory also appears to be failing him. At the inauguration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) last Wednesday in Abuja, he reportedly referred to himself as “Governor Bola Tinubu”.

This type of gaffe didn’t start today. During the campaign for the 2023 election, he made a lot of statements that put question marks on his ability to govern Nigeria. In 2022, he reportedly declared that a former Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, would be the governor of Niger Delta State.

At the inauguration of his campaign in Plateau State that same year, he prayed God to bless PDAPC. At the Ebonyi APC presidential rally in November 2022, he promised to make the South-East of Nigeria the Taiwan of Asia. And in Owerri, he reportedly said “Balabloo-blu-bulava”, which sounded like someone speaking in tongues.

In October 2022, he described climate change as “a question of how do you prevent a church rat from eating a poisoned Holy Communion…” This was at an interactive session organized by the Arewa Joint Committee in Kaduna. We can go on and on.

Curiously, age has not affected the “talisman” with which the President appears to have caged many politicians. Up until date, he still controls what happens in Lagos long after he left office. Currently, he is replicating his Lagos experience nationwide. And he may still control what happens in the entire country politically after his tenure as President.

Typically, many Nigerian governors were in attendance at the inauguration of the APC PCC. Some of them enthused about the “unconditional” love they have for Tinubu and his presumed bright chances in the forthcoming presidential election in 2027.

Tinubu himself relished the presence of these governors at the inauguration, especially Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party (AP), and Chukwuma Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, a supposed leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was also present. Tinubu said their support for his re-election was a testimony to the purported laudable policies of the APC. Professor Soludo of Anambra State is wont to describe the cordial relationship as “progressives working together.”

For Adeleke of Osun State, it was time to display his famous but infantile dancing steps. Here is a man whose people staked their lives to defend his mandate in the off-cycle governorship election held in the state on August 15, 2026. He campaigned and won on the platform of the AP. But he went to Abuja to pledge his support for Tinubu against his party’s presidential candidate, Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim.

Incidentally, Osun and Anambra are not in the list of the states the President will visit in his campaign tour before the January 2027 general election. From the statement of the APC PCC, Tinubu will start his campaign in Kaduna on October 24, 2026, and conclude it with a grand rally in Lagos on January 9, 2027. The 12 states he is billed to make campaign appearances are: Kaduna, Rivers, Oyo, Borno, Enugu, Bauchi, Plateau, Sokoto, Delta, Kano, Adamawa and Lagos. 

The broader APC itinerary will cover all the 36 states and the FCT. The President said he would limit his physical appearance at rallies so he would have time to concentrate on governance. But how much of governance did he do when he went to France recently and stayed up to one month in the name of working vacation?

Ideally, the President should visit all the states during his campaign. But he pegged it at 12. Why can’t he visit the other states? Or are they not part of Nigeria? Didn’t other former Presidents tour the states during their own campaign for re-election?

I am from Anambra State, and I will be glad to see the President live in Awka. Beyond the recent rehabilitation work on the First Niger Bridge and a few others, I will want to hear our dear President tell Ndi Anambra the goodies they stand to enjoy as progressives working together if he wins a second term.

Will he build railway from Lagos to Onitsha to ease the transportation burden of the South-East people? Will the President approve the magical transformation of Onitsha Port to a major coastal seaport to decongest the port in Lagos?

Tinubu should be able to visit all the states of Nigeria and tell the people what he has done for them. Let him point out to the North the tangible things he has done for the people. Let him tell the South-West people what he has attracted to them beyond federal appointments. He should tell the South-East and South-South the developmental projects he brought to those regions.

A presidential candidate seeking the mandate of the people is like a job hunter. Such a candidate usually goes for written and oral interviews before being considered for a job. A President’s written and oral interviews revolve around touring all the states of the federation to interface with his employers – the people. He attends public debates to further market his credentials and skills. This is with a view to convincing the people that he means business, and that he is capable, if hired to do the job.

Right now, the majority of Nigerians are sceptical about the capability of Tinubu. He promised renewed hope, but has delivered renewed hardship. He boasts of bold reforms which have made Nigeria pass her “Red Sea”. Unfortunately, the people are tired and famished and do not have the strength to continue the journey to the promised destination. The campaign offers him an opportunity to woo Nigerians back to his side.

But he is shying away from doing that. That has been his style. Prior to the 2023 election, Tinubu dodged almost every invitation for interview or debate where he could have marketed his plans and policies for Nigeria. Some of the presidential debates he failed to attend were organised by Arise TV and the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE). The three leading presidential candidates then: Atiku Abubakar, Musa Kwankwaso, and Peter Obi, acquitted themselves well at the NGE Forum in Lagos. 

Ironically, Tinubu was still declared the winner of the 2023 presidential election. It is not surprising because politics is full of intrigues and that’s why I have not become a politician. Being a good politician, especially in Nigeria, requires that you see ‘A’ and call it ‘B’. You must invent lies or half-truths to cover up obvious failures or inadequacies.

You must be ready to fight and grab power by fair or foul means. For Nigeria, particularly, election is an abracadabra, the more you look, the less you see. The electorate waste their time and energy to queue up for voting. They stay up late in the evening to defend their votes. But at the end of the day, some characters manipulate the entire process and present a different outcome. The rigging could come through vote trading, or technical glitches. It could come through snatching of ballot boxes and burning of ballot papers.

Perhaps, this is what some politicians are banking on. With their structure of criminality, they intend to rig elections and upturn the wishes of the people. They control the security agencies and the judiciary. They have the listening ears of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). But they should not rejoice yet, because the Nigerian people are ready this time. They are not fools.

No amount of propaganda will erase the fact that more people have jumped into the poverty pit. In the 2026 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) noted that an additional 17.9 million Nigerians fell into poverty between 2021 and 2024.

This is the world’s largest increase in the number of poor people. Many of these Nigerians are deprived of education, health and living standard. Will they endorse or reject those who brought this hardship upon them on the ballot papers?

The answer is obvious. No amount of phantom claims will obliterate the fact that the spate of insecurity has worsened. How will the President face the people of Benue and Plateau States who have suffered the brunt of senseless attacks in some of their communities in recent times? How will he campaign in Borno State where schoolchildren have continued to face abductions by terrorist groups? What will he tell the families of the victims of terrorist attacks in different parts of the country?

Those of us who are not politicians do not need to be politically correct. Some opposition leaders may join the ruling party and endorse Tinubu for second term. They may sing his praises and claim to stand on his mandate. But it does not change anything.

Some of them are afraid that Tinubu may move against them if they don’t support him. Some joined the ruling party orchestra just to secure more federal allocations and rewards. But they only have one vote. They cannot force the electorate to do their bidding. Nigerians are only asking for one thing: free and transparent election! Once this is guaranteed, some politicians will cover their faces in shame after January 16, 2027.