…stress coalitions, legislative backing, internal discipline
•Our party now a ‘beautiful bride’ — Uzodimma
By Johnbosco Agbakwuru, Abuja
Ahead of the 2027 election, the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio and the Speaker, House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, on Friday rallied support for President Bola Tinubu.
The APC party leaders who gave their support at the All Progressives Congress, APC, National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting, at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja, called for unity, disciplined expansion and closer legislative, executive coordination ahead of the 2027 general elections.
They said the future and strength of the party revolved around institutional memory, political coalition-building, coherent lawmaking and avoidance of internal fragmentation as the ruling party prepares for a decisive electoral cycle.
Senator Shettima paid a glowing tribute to Tinubu’s political evolution, crediting him with sustaining Nigeria’s opposition structures well before the 2013 merger that birthed the APC.
He said Nigeria’s current political map, including the party’s control of 28 states, was rooted in resistance to one-party dominance and the willingness of some leaders to organise when it was risky to do so.
“Politics rewards memory, and today memory must begin with gratitude,” he told NEC members. “Nigeria’s opposition did not survive by accident. It survived because one man refused to surrender the political space.”
Shettima said electoral outcomes will be shaped by coalitions, credibility and political judgment rather than social-media agitation.
“People do not cross over because of slogans,” he said.
“Elections are not won on Facebook or Twitter; they are won by coalitions, credibility and conviction.”
He warned that incumbency alone cannot secure a second cycle, describing 2027 as a responsibility requiring discipline, organisation and an understanding of past lessons.
Senate President Akpabio pledged continued National Assembly backing for Tinubu’s reform agenda, saying lawmakers had processed executive bills and requests “timely” to stabilise governance.
He aligned himself with the presentations of the APC National Chairman, the Progressive Governors’ Forum and the Speaker, saying the documents would guide deliberations when the Senate reconvenes next week.
Akpabio urged governors to work more deliberately with legislators at state and federal levels, arguing that the assembly is closest to the grassroots and essential to democratic consensus.
He also announced that amendments to the Electoral Act would be concluded before the end of January to provide clear timelines for congresses, primaries and the 2027 contest, saying legislative adjustments must prevent pre-election administrative gaps.
Akpabio joined governors in approving a fresh vote of confidence on Tinubu, describing the President as navigating “difficult terrain” and insisting that reforms in the economy and security were beginning to show results.
Speaker Abbas focused on delivery and institutional alignment, urging the APC to deepen internal cohesion and view governance “as a contract between the party and the Nigerian people.”
He argued that while parties win elections, institutions deliver outcomes, and history will judge whether APC-led authorities connected the two.
Abbas commended Tinubu’s willingness to pursue “difficult but necessary” reforms and said the House had tried to stabilise them through law, oversight and public representation.
Also, APC governors, for the umpteenth time passed a vote of confidence on President Bola Tinubu, citing his economic reforms.
The Progressive governors declared the ruling party as “a beautiful bride” ahead of future elections.
Speaking through its chairman and governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma at the 15th National Executive Council, NEC, meeting, the governors alleged that Nigeria was “in a state of coma” when Tinubu assumed office in May 2023, with empty national coffers, an unsustainable petrol-subsidy regime and a foreign-exchange crisis driven by arbitrage.
Uzodimma stated that Tinubu “took the bull by the horn” by removing subsidy and tackling currency racketeering, insisting that the reforms were necessary to halt economic collapse.
According to him, the President has refused to be distracted and has also adopted a “fire-for-fire” approach to insecurity, citing the swift rescue of kidnap victims in Kebbi, Kwara and Niger States.
Uzodimma further claimed that inflation had dropped sharply and petrol prices had stabilised, adding that increased federal revenue was now reaching states and local governments.
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