The Concerned National APC Stakeholders Forum has launched a nationwide grassroots mobilisation campaign for the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima in 2027, with a call for supporters to build credible structures down to the polling-unit level.
The forum, which inaugurated state coordinators of the Tinubu/Shettima Grassroots Canvassers in Abuja, said elections are won at the grassroots and urged its coordinators to take the campaign beyond Abuja and state capitals into communities, wards and polling units.
Speaking at the inauguration, the forum’s Convener and National Coordinator, Dr Dominic Alancha, said the initiative was designed to communicate the achievements and policies of the Tinubu administration directly to Nigerians.
Alancha said the organisation’s operational philosophy was captured in the slogan, “Deliver Your Unit, Deliver Your Ward.”
Grassroots Communicators
He described the newly inaugurated coordinators as grassroots communicators, vote mobilisers, listeners and ambassadors of the movement.
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“Our campaign must be a campaign of ideas, engagement, persuasion and performance, not intimidation or abuse,” Alancha said.
He urged the coordinators to engage Nigerians respectfully, listen to their concerns, explain government policies and respond to misinformation with facts and civility.
“Where Nigerians are angry, we must listen. Where they are hopeful, we must strengthen that hope. Where they do not understand government policies, we must explain them,” the forum’s Convener and National Coordinator emphasised.
Alancha said the coordinators were expected to understand their communities, identify local concerns, recruit credible canvassers, communicate the APC’s message and maintain continuous contact with voters.
He stressed that the strength of the organisation would ultimately be measured by its presence at the polling-unit level.
“If we deliver the polling units, we will deliver the wards. If we deliver the wards, we will deliver the local governments. If we deliver the local governments, we will deliver the states. And if we deliver the states, we will secure victory in 2027,” the forum’s Convener stated.
The APC stakeholder also urged party members to place the collective interests of the APC and Nigeria above personal ambitions and differences.
He advised the coordinators not to insult political opponents or spread unverified information, but to build bridges, engage communities and win support through persuasion.
According to him, the inauguration was “a call to service and not a badge of personal status.”
Alancha said the forum would work with existing APC structures and stakeholders to establish a grassroots network covering polling units, wards, local government areas and states.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the Governing Board of the Lower Benue River Basin Development Authority, Dr. Amos Gizo Yadukso, expressed support for the Tinubu administration, citing developments in education and infrastructure as evidence of progress.
Yadukso, who is from Plateau State, said the administration’s reforms in the education sector had eased some of the challenges previously faced by university students.
He particularly cited the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFund, saying students could access financing for tuition and receive monthly allowances.
Yadukso also commended the Federal Government for creating opportunities for state governors to undertake infrastructure projects.
“Infrastructurally, the state governors have never had it good like this,” he said, arguing that the current administration had provided an environment for states to embark on more infrastructure development.
He urged Nigerians to give President Tinubu another opportunity to consolidate his reforms, noting that major reforms often require time before their full benefits become evident.
Yadukso also appealed to Christians, particularly those in northern Nigeria, not to allow concerns over the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket to determine their support for the administration.
Identifying himself as a Christian from Plateau State, he said the concerns expressed before the 2023 election had not translated into the negative consequences some had feared.
He cited the appointment of senior government officials from the North-Central region as evidence of what he described as Tinubu’s inclusive approach to governance.
Yadukso argued that the President treats religion as a personal matter rather than a basis for governance and urged Nigerians to judge the administration by its performance.
He said religious considerations should not prevent citizens from supporting what he described as policies that promote national development.
Yadukso challenged political support groups to move beyond Abuja, state capitals, local government headquarters and even ward structures, insisting that genuine mobilisation must reach the polling unit.
“Support groups should be unit-based,” he noted, stressing that the polling unit was where the real voter could be reached.
Yadukso called for the names and telephone numbers of genuine unit-level canvassers to be documented and verified.
He explained that a situation room would assess structures presented by support groups to determine whether they had genuine polling-unit representation.
The Chairman of the Governing Board of the Lower Benue River Basin Development Authority also promised to support the Concerned National APC Stakeholders Forum provided it remained committed to building genuine grassroots structures.
The inauguration was attended by APC leaders and stakeholders, including the Deputy National Chairman, North, of the APC, Dr. Bukar Ali Dalori; Senator George Akume, represented by Comrade Abba Yaro; Dr. Amos Gizo Yadukso; state coordinators and members of the Tinubu/Shettima Grassroots Canvassers, as well as media representatives.
