President Bola Tinubu, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, are stepping up efforts to expand their political strongholds ahead of the 2027 presidential election, Sunday PUNCH has learnt.

Our correspondent gathered that the three camps are relying on their respective political structures, alliances and support groups to secure more states than they won in 2023.

Tinubu is contesting the 2027 presidential election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, while Atiku is running under the African Democratic Congress, with Obi contesting on the platform of the Nigeria Democratic Congress.

In the 2023 election, Tinubu polled 8,794,726 votes, winning Ekiti, Ogun, Oyo, Kwara, Ondo, Jigawa, Benue, Niger, Kogi, Zamfara, Rivers, and Borno states.

Atiku polled 6,984,520 votes, winning 12 states, including Osun, Yobe, Katsina, Adamawa, Taraba and Kaduna. He also won Bayelsa, Sokoto, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Kebbi and Gombe states.

Obi won 11 states plus the Federal Capital Territory, polling 6,101,533 votes. The states are Enugu, Lagos, Nasarawa, Delta, Imo, Cross River, Ebonyi, Anambra, Abia, Edo and Plateau states.

However, with the 2027 election approaching, the three camps are seeking to strengthen their structures and make inroads into states won by their rivals in the last presidential election.

Sunday PUNCH gathered that while the APC is targeting 20 states, it is projected to win in 28 states, while the NDC is banking on fresh political structures and alignment for Obi to win more states.

‘APC structures stronger than 2027’

Commenting on the move to expand the 2023 strongholds, a principal official of the APC, who spoke with Sunday PUNCH on condition of anonymity, said the party had a more solid structure in place than in 2023.

According to the APC official, the target of the party is to win at least 20 states, including Lagos, Rivers, Kano and Kaduna.

Speaking with our correspondent, the APC chieftain said, “Mr President won his election in 2023 by winning 12 states. But this time around, the political structures are stronger than what we had in 2023.

“Many governors have joined the party, and a lot of appointments have been made. Some other things are also in place, so we will go beyond the 2023 stronghold. The target is 20 states on the average.”

Sunday PUNCH noted that Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau), Abba Kabir Yusuf (Kano), Sheriff Oborevwori (Delta), Peter Mbah (Enugu), Douye Diri (Bayelsa), Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom), Siminalayi Fubara (Rivers), Agbu Kefas (Taraba), and Dauda Lawal (Zamfara) have all left their parties that brought them into power in 2023 to join the APC.

Also, the North-Central All Progressives Congress Forum Chairman, Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, maintained that Tinubu would win more states in 2027 as a result of the strength of the APC and the President’s performance.

He specifically mentioned Benue, Plateau and Nasarawa as additional states that the APC targeted to win in addition to the 12 states won in 2023.

“There are a lot of structures in place to win more states. In 2023, APC had about 22 governors; now we are controlling almost 31 governors. That is a solid structure because the governors will work and deliver victory for their party.

“Tinubu will win in my state, Plateau, which the APC lost in 2023. The governor who was in PDP in the last election is now in APC. We are also expecting to win Nasarawa and Benue states, which the President didn’t win in the last election. There is a lot of work going on to win many states,” he said.

Zazzaga further said the President would clear all the South-West states in 2027.

He added, “He won four states in the South-West in 2023, but he is going to win all the South-West states in 2027.”

Atiku eyes 28 states

While Atiku’s media aides, Paul Ibe and Phrank Shaibu, didn’t respond to calls and messages sent to them, the immediate past national chairman of ADC, Ralph Nwosu, said the ex-vice president and his party had put mercenaries in motion to ensure that they sustained his victory in the 2023 strongholds and win more states in 2027.

According to Nwosu, Atiku was projected to secure 63 per cent of the votes and have at least 25 per cent of the votes cast in 28 states.

“The recent poll that we conducted showed that if the election is conducted today, Atiku will have 63 per cent of the votes nationwide. He will be declared president on the first ballot. The poll also shows that Atiku has over 28 states where he got a minimum of 25 per cent of the votes.

“More than 80 per cent of PDP, over 50 per cent of Labour Party members, and over 30 per cent of APC are in ADC. Within the next two months, APC will go down, and people will come to the party that’s already winning.

“Atiku now has stronger structures than in 2023, and while he won 12 states then, he is going to win in 28 states this time around. Atiku will have the majority of the votes,” he said.

Nwosu maintained that it would be difficult to rig the outcome of the 2027 election.

He said, “The people that are planning to rig and write results in the next year’s election will be disappointed.”

Obi rides on Kwankwaso waves

Meanwhile, Obi is also targeting to win more states in the next year’s election.

The National Coordinator of Obidient Movement, Yinusa Tanko, said Obi and the NDC had gained more grounds across the country, saying that amounted to additional votes for him.

Tanko, who spoke with Sunday PUNCH on Thursday, maintained that the combination of former Kano State governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, and Obi had strengthened the party and expanded the former governor of Anambra State’s 2023 strongholds.

He said, “The dynamics have changed now, and we are working and expecting to win more states. In the last election, we didn’t have people like Kwankwaso, but we have him now. Obviously, that will increase our electoral fortune.

“The number of our candidates for the 2027 election is more than what we had in 2023. Many of the candidates are very strong in the North. You would have seen what is happening in Kano and Zamfara states. We have more candidates who are willing to battle and wrestle for their tickets.”

Tanko added that apart from the support groups like the Obidient Movement, Ok Movement, among others, Obi’s structures were stronger than they were in 2023.

“Peter Obi will mobilise and win more states than in 2023. The structures we have now are more suited than they were in 2023. We will win Lagos State again because a lot of things have happened and a lot of people will be willing to fight for their lives. It’s about the people against the government. Lagos people are not buying petrol cheaper than the price in the North.

“We are really hoping that the voters will see the difference and know that their lives have been put into danger and they need somebody who can help them in solving the problem of Nigeria.

“So, we believe that they should be able to come out en masse and give us the total vote that we are actually seeking for. We are hoping that we will have more than what we had in 2023,” he stated. (Sunday PUNCH)