The National Vice Chairman, North Central of the All Progressives Congress, Hon. Mu’azu Rijau has warned party members not to underestimate the opposition.
He urged that rather, the party members should remain focussed on their goal to re-elect the president, governor and national assembly members.
Rijau made this appeal on Monday during the inauguration of a 525-member State Presidential/Gubernatorial Campaign Council of the APC for the next general election in Niger State.
Earlier in his opening speech, the Niger State Governor Mohammed Bago
said his party, the APC has a target of 2 million votes for the president and governor during the 2027 election.
The governor, who inaugurated the 525-member State Presidential/Gubernatorial Campaign Council of the APC for the next general election, said the council is drawn from commissioners, special advisers, local government chairmen, councillors, state and national lawmakers, ministers, directors-general and coordinators.
Bago described the structure as spanning party units at the state level and including political appointees, with total membership exceeding 100,000 over the years.
“If everybody would bring it’s own votes, it would give us more than 1 million votes. But our target is beyond that. The ambition this time around is to bring out over 2 million votes, and by the grace of God we will do that,” Bago said.
The governor, thus, urged the party to welcome returnees who had earlier defected to other parties, crediting the APC’s emergence as a coalition of parties that defeated the main opposition.
Bago also called for constructive media coverage, warning against overheating of the polity or triggering insecurity, saying, the campaigns would highlight the federal government’s economic policies, improved revenue and job creation.
The governor cited recent infrastructure and security gains, including better roads and freer movement of goods in parts of the state as part of what the government has done.
He disclosed that the North Central Presidential Campaign office in Minna would be commissioned next week, with possible attendance by the President, Vice President, Senate President, Speaker or National Chairman.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Information, Idris Malagi, in his remarks praised the choice of leadership of the council and said the APC would campaign on the administration’s record of transforming the Nigerian economy over the past three-and-a-half years while urging the newly appointed members to prioritise the collective good of the state and party unity
The Director-General of the campaign council, Ahmed Ibeto, accepted the assignment on behalf of members, pledging hard work, strategic coordination, grassroots engagement, unity, discipline and compliance with electoral guidelines.
He said the council would establish operational frameworks across directorates, local governments, wards and units, and would value experience while welcoming new ideas.