Fro. Cyril Mbah, Abuja.
Imo State Governor and Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum, Senator Hope Uzodimma, on Wednesday said the All Progressives Congress, (APC), has no excuse oor reaaon not to win the 2027 general elections, given its dominant control of all tiers of government.
Uzodimma, who is also the Secretary of the APC Presidential Campaign Council and Director-General of Renewed Hope Ambassadors, stated this in his keynote address at the inauguration of the Presidential Campaign Council at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja.
He said the gathering was more than a campaign inauguration but a general assembly of the federation, with all progressive governors, members of the National Assembly, party chairmen and executives from national to local government, and elected council chairmen in attendance.
According to him, those present came for two reasons – to witness the take-off of the campaign and to tell President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in person and with one voice that they stand with him and are committed to his re-election.
Uzodimma said the make-up of the gathering speaks to the political reality where APC holds the Federal Government, resounding majorities in both chambers of the National Assembly, 31 of 36 states representing 86 per cent, and about 685 of 774 local government councils.
He noted that no party in the Fourth Republic has occupied such a strong position, adding that it did not happen by accident but because Nigerians have watched what the party is doing with power and many who once stood against it have concluded it is in the right course.
The Imo Chief executive said the governors are proud of what President Tinubu has done with the 2023 mandate, citing the courage to end petrol subsidy and multiple exchange rates on his first day in office, and the tax reform that came into force in January 2026 to ease burden on low-income earners and small businesses.
He said results have begun to show, with GDP growth of 4.43 per cent in Q2 2026, headline inflation easing to 15.39 per cent in August, S&P raising Nigeria’s sovereign credit rating in May for the first time since 2012, and the World Bank projecting 4.4 per cent average growth through 2028.
Uzodimma added that benefits are now reaching ordinary Nigerians, as resources once lost to subsidy now flow to the three tiers, while NELFUND has supported over 1.5 million students with over N350 billion, the Consumer Credit Scheme, Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer targeting 15 million households, the first phase of Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway open to traffic, and the Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme targeting 8,809 wards to bring 10 million Nigerians into productive activity.
He argued that reforms of this scale take time to mature and that the last three years were the hard work of laying a foundation, stressing that the question Nigerians will answer on January 16, 2027 is whether to build on that foundation or abandon it and start all over again.
Uzodimma appealed to President Tinubu not to allow electioneering to distract him from governance, urging him to leave the heavy lifting of the campaign to the governors, council chairmen, legislators, party executives and Renewed Hope Ambassadors who will take the message to polling units.
He cautioned that a party that controls every tier can mistake size of structure for depth of support, warning that citizens must be persuaded to vote, and that the governing party must campaign peacefully and within the law.
Uzodimma concluded by moving a motion for a vote of implicit confidence in the leadership and performance of the Tinubu administration and commitment to the Tinubu-Shettima ticket for a second term, urging members to reconcile differences, deliver their polling units and wards, and treat the next 94 days as working days.
