The House of Representatives Aspirants Forum for Tinubu/Shettima 2027 has pledged to mobilise support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election, urging the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership to integrate its members into the party’s grassroots mobilisation efforts.
The forum made the pledge during a solidarity visit to the APC National Chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, and members of the party’s National Working Committee at the party’s national secretariat.
The aspirants, drawn from across Nigeria’s 360 federal constituencies, also sought the party’s support for the production and nationwide distribution of campaign materials highlighting the Tinubu administration’s achievements in major Nigerian languages.
Speaking during the visit, the forum’s Coordinator, Danjuma Mohammed, said their members had joined the APC following subsequent political developments and were committed to supporting Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima and other party candidates in the 2027 general election.
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They said their experience in previous party primaries had equipped them with valuable grassroots connections, political experience and mobilisation capacity that could strengthen the APC’s electoral efforts.
“Our mission was to foster unity, sustain political relationships and mobilise support,” the forum said, explaining that it was established in 2022 under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to unite aspirants who contested primaries but did not emerge as candidates.”
The forum said it was not seeking to establish a parallel structure or undermine existing party organs but wanted to complement the party’s efforts through mobilisation, voter engagement, reconciliation and grassroots sensitisation.
It appealed to Professor Yilwatda to support the production and nationwide distribution of campaign materials in major Nigerian languages and different media formats.
The aspirants also proposed organising political conferences across the six geopolitical zones to disseminate information on the administration’s policies and achievements.
Responding, Professor Yilwatda welcomed the forum and assured its members that the APC had room for all members, regardless of their backgrounds or previous political experiences.
“I welcome all of you to your home, your secretariat, your party, where you truly belong, and where we all work together as progressives,” he said.
The APC chairman stressed that inclusiveness remained central to the party’s philosophy, noting that it accommodated people across different ages, genders, ethnic groups, religions and social backgrounds.
He also urged the aspirants not to abandon the party because they had lost previous elections, citing his own experience as a former governorship candidate in Plateau State who lost at the polls and at the Supreme Court before returning to work for the party.
“APC has space for everybody,” he said, encouraging the aspirants to work with the party leadership and contribute to its electoral objectives.
Yilwatda also highlighted infrastructure projects, the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline, student support initiatives and institutional reforms as areas the APC could use to present its case for Tinubu’s re-election.
He argued that the party needed to translate its organisational strength into support at polling-unit level ahead of the 2027 general election.
“Our party has over 261,000 executives, just executives of the party, not to talk of members,” he said.
The chairman urged the aspirants to work closely with the party’s existing structures, adding that he would link them with the relevant directorate to begin the collaboration.
He thanked the forum for its support and expressed confidence that cooperation between the aspirants and the party leadership would strengthen the APC’s mobilisation efforts ahead of the next general election.
The forum, in turn, pledged loyalty to Tinubu, Shettima and the APC leadership, promising to respect the party’s constitution, abide by its decisions and contribute its resources and experience towards achieving the party’s objectives.
