S’West APC seeks reconciliation, stronger push for Tinubu

Leaders of the All Progressives Congress in the South-West have agreed to bury internal grievances and reconcile aggrieved members as the party begins preparations for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027, with former Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, proposing a grassroots campaign that will extend beyond party membership to opposition groups, first-time voters and Nigerians who have become disillusioned with elections.

The agreement was announced in a communique on Tuesday by former Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, after a strategic meeting of the APC presidential campaign stakeholders from the six South-West states in Ikeja, Lagos. He said representatives of different political interests within the party had agreed to set aside their differences and support Tinubu’s second-term ambition, despite lingering disagreements across the region.

The meeting brought together Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat; former governors Fashola, Mimiko, Segun Oni and Adeniyi Adebayo; Secretary of the Governance Advisory Council, Mutiu Are; APC Lagos State Chairman, Cornelius Ojelabi; Senator Abdulfatai Buhari; former Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu and other party leaders and zonal coordinators.

Mimiko said the stakeholders had spoken with one voice after hearing representatives of the different states and political tendencies, resolving to subordinate their grievances to what he described as the interests of Tinubu, the Yoruba people and the country.

“We have heard from all of the representatives of one house, all of the representatives of the states who are here.

“They also represent very different interests in their respective states, but they have spoken with one voice.

“We have all agreed that we bury all grievances, all intra-party differences, in the interest of Asiwaju, Yoruba land, and the future of our great country,” he said.

The resolution followed an appeal by Fashola, who chairs the South-West stakeholders engagement directorate of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, for party leaders who won previous contests to reach out to members who felt marginalised or aggrieved.

He said the party could not achieve the unity required for the presidential campaign without deliberate efforts by those who emerged victorious in its internal contests to bring dissatisfied members back into the fold.

“We understand there are aggrieved people. Some are more successful than others, but we expect those who have emerged victorious to embrace those who have been hurt so that we can work together,” Fashola said.

Beyond reconciliation within the APC, the former governor outlined a mobilisation strategy designed to draw support from political interests outside the party, including opposition caucuses, artisans, unions and other groups capable of influencing electoral outcomes.

He urged stakeholders from the six states to establish structured engagement forums at three levels — state, local government and ward — arguing that the party needed a wider network of political contacts to improve its performance in the 2027 elections.

“A stakeholder is anyone who can impact election outcomes, spanning party lines, opposing caucuses, artisans and union members,” he said.

Fashola disclosed that 10 delegates had been selected from each of the six South-West states as part of the effort to build a coordinated regional campaign structure.

He said he would visit each state after the engagement forums had been established, with the visits expected to provide opportunities to address local political concerns, accommodate the peculiarities of individual states and escalate matters requiring intervention at the national level.

The former governor said the campaign strategy was being developed in collaboration with Mimiko, Oni and Buhari.

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Describing politics as local, Fashola said the APC must not limit its mobilisation to established party members but should also seek to attract newly registered voters and re-engage people who had previously voted but were becoming increasingly apathetic towards the electoral process.

He said the party needed to improve on its performance in the last general election and make every available vote count in 2027.

“We want every political interest to align for the presidential election. Every vote and support we can gather in the next election will be very important.

“If you look at the last election, you will see that there is a need for improvement.

“Every new voter has become the most important, and those who have voted before but are not enthusiastic are also very important,” he said.

Fashola urged party leaders to strengthen grassroots engagement and ensure that the campaign reached communities and interest groups beyond the APC’s existing political structures.

Mimiko, while explaining the basis for the stakeholders’ support for Tinubu, said they were satisfied with some policies of the administration, particularly in tertiary education and digital infrastructure.

He identified the stabilisation of the academic calendar in tertiary institutions as one of the administration’s achievements, saying it had brought greater certainty to students and their families across the South-West.

“We have agreed that, perhaps for the first time in our recent history, every home in Yoruba land that has students in institutions in Nigeria knows that there is a predictable calendar. This never happened before,” he said.

He also said the stakeholders supported efforts to expand access to tertiary education and extend the country’s fibre-optic infrastructure, which he said would improve digital learning opportunities for young people.

On how the campaign intended to communicate the administration’s policies to voters, Mimiko said Tinubu’s economic reforms would be explained in local languages and in simple terms to help Nigerians understand their implications for households.

He also expressed optimism that the proposed establishment of state police would soon materialise, citing Tinubu’s role in building national consensus around decentralised security.

Although he acknowledged that the President was not without shortcomings, Mimiko said the administration’s policy direction and actions had convinced the stakeholders to support his re-election.

“Asiwaju is not a perfect human being, but thanks to courage and conviction of action, he has done well. And we are going to support him to continue along this path,” he added.

Also speaking, former Ekiti State Governor, Adebayo, assured the meeting of the South-West’s commitment to working for the APC and Tinubu’s re-election.

“We are here to work together for victory for our party and President Bola Tinubu,” Adebayo said.