President Bola Tinubu has raised the stakes for Ondo State ahead of the January 16, 2027 presidential election, urging voters to deliver at least 1.2 million votes for his re-election, a target higher than the one million votes pledged by Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa.
Tinubu, who spoke through Vice-President Kashim Shettima at the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign rally held at the Township Stadium, Akure, on Wednesday, said Ondo State had the voting strength to deliver the expected figure.
According to him, “it is our expectation that Ondo should be able to deliver 1.2 million votes out of the 1.8 million PVCs collected so far.”
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The President said the party was targeting 1.2 million votes from the state’s 1.8 million registered voters who had collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), out of about 2.1 million registered voters.
Tinubu also took a swipe at his major political opponents, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, questioning their political strength and capacity to lead the country.
He described the large turnout at the Akure rally as evidence of the APC’s grassroots support, contrasting it with what he called the opposition’s reliance on social media platforms for political mobilisation.
“Looking at the rally today in Ondo, it is shut down. Our political opponents are conducting rallies on Instagram and Facebook,” he said.
The President also questioned Atiku’s political influence in his home state of Adamawa, alleging that he lacked the support and political alignment of notable leaders in the state.
He similarly dismissed Obi’s political standing in Anambra State, arguing that the former governor did not enjoy the backing of influential former and serving political leaders from the state.
“That you have the ability to import cheap wine from South Africa does not mean you can govern Nigeria,” Tinubu said in a jibe at Obi, insisting that his administration had performed better and deserved another mandate.
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In his welcome address, Aiyedatiwa pledged that Ondo State would deliver at least one million votes for Tinubu, attributing the commitment to the benefits the state had received from the President’s administration.
He said the Federal Government’s policies and reforms had translated into development opportunities for the state, citing the appointment of three ministers and other prominent federal office holders from Ondo State.
However, the Director-General of the Tinubu Presidential Campaign Council, Abdullaziz Yari, argued that the President deserved more than the one million votes promised by the governor, considering the benefits accruing to the state under his administration.
Yari urged APC leaders and other stakeholders to put aside their differences and work together to secure maximum electoral support for Tinubu in January.
Similarly, the Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum and Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, urged eligible voters who had yet to collect their PVCs to do so, stressing that the party’s ambitious electoral target could only be achieved through effective mobilisation.
Uzodimma also appealed to the different political tendencies within the APC to close ranks and avoid internal disagreements that could undermine the party’s electoral fortunes.
The Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, reinforced the call for unity, disclosing that Tinubu had specifically directed all APC leaders in Ondo State to recognise Aiyedatiwa as the sole coordinator of the presidential campaign in the state.
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According to him, the President also expects the governor to accommodate all party leaders and give them a sense of belonging in the campaign.
“The appeal of Mr President is that all our leaders should recognise that there is only one state coordinator for this campaign. The state coordinator for this campaign is the governor of the state, and everybody must work with him.
“The President also asked me to emphasise to the state coordinator, Governor Aiyedatiwa, that he also must open his doors to all the leaders of the party to work with him,” Bamidele said.
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