The leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in South West and stakeholders in the zone on Tuesday, 3 November, 2026 unanimously backed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu re-election bid, reports thegazellenews.com
They took this decision on Tuesday at a meeting of the South West Zone’s stakeholders engagement meeting hosted by APC Presidential Campaign Council, South West zone led by former Governor of Lagos state, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN.
The meeting, which brought together party stakeholders and representatives from Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti states, provided a platform for reconciliation, renewed political engagement and mobilisation ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The well-attended meeting held at Providence Hotel, Ikeja Lagos was attended by the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; his Deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat; Secretary of the Governance Advisory Council, GAC, Otunba Mutiu Are; former Governors and other APC chieftains from the region.
Fashola in his welcome address called on APC leaders across the zone to urgently address internal disagreements and reconcile aggrieved members ahead of the 2027 general elections adding that those who emerged victorious in previous party contests should reach out to members who felt marginalised.
He called on members to sheathe their swords, reconcile their differences and embrace collective responsibility for the party’s success, noting that unity remained critical to sustaining the APC’s political advantage in the region.
“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,” he said.
He disclosed that 10 delegates had been drawn from each of the six Southwest states as part of efforts to build a united front for the presidential campaign.
Fashola said the party needs to mobilise support beyond its established membership, particularly among first-time voters and those who had become less enthusiastic about participating in elections.
“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 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.
While calling on party leaders to strengthen grassroots engagement and bring more voters into the party’s campaign efforts, also called for an aggressive voter mobilisation strategy, particularly targeting newly registered voters and those who had participated in previous elections but had since become politically disengaged.
He added that the party must identify the reasons behind voter apathy and address the concerns responsible for the withdrawal of some voters from the electoral process.
Fashola, who chairs the Southwest Zone’s Stakeholders Engagement Directorate of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, also drew attention to the historical pattern of power rotation between the North and South in Nigeria’s presidential politics, describing the current opportunity for the South as one that should be protected through political cooperation and commitment.
Also speaking, former Ekiti State Governor, Adeniyi Adebayo, assured the gathering of the region’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.
Former Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, while briefing newsmen after the meeting, acknowledged the economic and governance challenges confronting the Tinubu administration but maintained that its policies and programmes were beginning to yield positive results.
To buttress his points, Mimiko cited developments in the education sector, particularly the introduction of a more predictable academic calendar in tertiary institutions, as one of the interventions bringing relief to students and their families.
The former Ondo Governor, who urged party members to recognise the importance of sustaining the administration’s programmes while working together to strengthen the party’s political fortunes, disclosed that representatives of different poltical interests across the region had agreed to put their differences aside and speak with one voice in support of Tinubu’s second-term ambition.
He said the commitment was reached despite existing internal disagreements and the broader challenges facing 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,” Mimiko said.
While assessing the Tinubu administration, Mimiko said stakeholders expressed satisfaction with some of its policies, 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 provided greater certainty for students and their families.
“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.
Mimiko also said the stakeholders supported plans to expand access to tertiary education and extend the country’s fibre-optic infrastructure to improve digital learning opportunities for young people.
On the campaign strategy, he said the party would explain the administration’s economic reforms in local languages and simple terms to help Nigerians understand their implications for households.
Mimiko, popularly called Iroko, expressed optimism that the proposed establishment of state police would soon materialise, citing Tinubu’s role in building national consensus around decentralised security.
While acknowledging 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.
