President Bola Tinubu, on Thursday, questioned former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s political influence in Adamawa State, saying he should first secure the support of political leaders in his home state before seeking Nigerians’ support in the 2027 presidential election.

Tinubu, speaking in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, at the APC presidential campaign rally, said Atiku’s alleged inability to secure the backing of political leaders in his home state raised questions about his capacity to win a national election.

The President, represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, claimed that none of the five governors who had governed Adamawa State since the return to democracy in 1999 supported Atiku.

Tinubu listed former governors Boni Haruna, Murtala Nyako, Bala Ngilari and Jibrilla Bindow, as well as the incumbent, Ahmadu Fintiri, whom he said were not supporting Atiku.

“If you cannot control your own state, if you are not relevant in your home base, how can you tell others to elect you?” he asked.

The President said politics was about grassroots control, not emotions or social media popularity, adding that political leaders should be judged by their records and what they delivered to the people.

He also dismissed the African Democratic Congress’s political strength in Ekiti, saying the party’s candidate in the 2026 governorship election secured about 12,000 votes.

Tinubu urged Ekiti voters to support Tinubu’s re-election bid, expressing confidence that the APC would secure between 90 and 95 per cent of the votes cast in the state during the January 16, 2027, presidential election.

He recalled that Ekiti was the first state to declare its presidential election results in 2023, giving Tinubu 201,495 votes and delivering victory for the APC in all 16 local government areas.

The President also thanked the people for re-electing Governor Biodun Oyebanji in the June 20 governorship election, in which the APC candidate reportedly secured 85.7 per cent of the votes cast.

He said that the APC-led Federal Government had embarked on several projects in the state, including the reconstruction of the Akure-Ado Roads Ekiti and Itawure-Aramoko roads, the establishment of the Federal University of Technology and Environmental Sciences, Iyin-Ekiti, and the approval of a mining and geosciences institute.

Oyebanji, while addressing the crowd, said the endorsement of Tinubu by the governorship candidates of the PDP, APM and other political parties demonstrated political unity in Ekiti.

He recalled that Tinubu, during the 2022 governorship campaign, had asked Ekiti voters to elect him as governor and support his presidential ambition, promising federal backing for the state.

The governor said the people fulfilled their part of the agreement by voting for both candidates, adding that the President had supported his administration through federal projects and interventions.

He said the APC’s victory in the June 20 governorship election, with 85.7 per cent of the votes cast, endorsed the party’s performance and demonstrated political unity in the state.

Oyebanji said Ekiti would deliver at least 80 per cent of the total registered votes to Tinubu in the January 16, 2027 presidential election.

He listed the Akure-Ado-Ekiti Road, Itawure-Aramoko-Iyin Road, and other federal interventions as evidence of the President’s support for the state.

Also speaking, former Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole highlighted the Tinubu administration’s policies on student loans, minimum wage, security, and the expansion of educational institutions.

Oshiomhole said that the Federal Government had approved a N70,000 minimum wage and expanded recruitment into the military and other security agencies.

He also defended the government’s economic reforms, challenging opposition parties to explain what they would do differently if elected.

The Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Abdulaziz Yari, urged Ekiti residents to demonstrate their support for Tinubu by delivering a massive number of votes for the President in the 2027 election.

Yari called on party members and supporters to intensify grassroots mobilisation, expressing confidence that the state could deliver more than 800,000 votes for Tinubu.

He also urged the people to sustain the political unity demonstrated by opposition candidates who openly declared support for the President at the rally.

The APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, also appealed to Ekiti voters to support Tinubu’s re-election and other APC candidates, saying the administration’s policies and development initiatives deserved continuity.

Yilwatda highlighted the Federal Government’s interventions in infrastructure, education and economic reforms, including the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, as areas where the administration had sought to improve opportunities for Nigerians.

He urged party leaders and members to take the message of the administration’s achievements to their communities and mobilise voters ahead of the next presidential election.

He also called for unity within the ruling APC, stressing the need for collective efforts to secure victory for the party.

In a significant political development at the rally, the 2026 governorship candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party and Allied Peoples Movement, Wole Oluyede and Joseph Anifowoshe, respectively, declared support for Tinubu’s re-election.

Oluyede, who contested against Oyebanji in the June 20 governorship election, said that the governor’s performance and the Federal Government’s support for Ekiti had brought political leaders together across party lines.

He said, “There is no opposition in Ekiti. Governor Oyebanji has done good works in Ekiti. The President has been kind and generous to us, and we see his good works.

“We, as opposition parties, are standing firm and standing by our governor today. We are assuring the governor and the President that we are going to deliver 99 per cent of the votes to him.”

Oluyede urged Ekiti residents to turn out for the presidential election, saying the state had more than one million registered voters to mobilise for Tinubu.

Similarly, Anifowoshe said his party had decided to support Tinubu’s re-election because of what he described as the President’s achievements across the country.

He said that the President deserved another term to continue his programmes and projects, adding that the country needed continuity in governance.

The rally was attended by Governor Babajide Sanwolu (Lagos) and his wife, Dr Ibijoke Sanwolu; Lucky Aiyedatiwa (Ondo); Minister of Steel and Mines Development, Dele Alake; James Faleke; former APC National Chairman, Dr Abdullah Ganduje.

Others included former governors Kayode Fayemi, Ayodele Fayose, and Niyi Adebayo; ex-Jigawa Governor Abubakar Badaru; the APC National Secretary, Senator Ajibola Basiru; members of the APC National Working Committee; Hadiza Bala-Usman, NIDCOM Chairman; Abike Dabiri-Erewa, former Speaker of the House of Representatives; and Dimeji Bankole. (The Nation)