APC restricts ministers, appointees to home-state rallies for 2027 campaign
The APC Presidential Campaign Council has ordered all ministers, political appointees, and 2027 campaign council members to attend rallies only in their home states, effective immediately. The directive, signed by Council DG Abdulaziz Yari, aims to strengthen grassroots mobilisation through a "pyramid concept" that prioritises polling-unit, ward, and LGA-level coordination over national rally-hopping. Officials must implement approved directorate work plans and budgets within their constituencies instead of traveling to rallies nationwide.
National Working Committee members (except the National Chairman, Secretary, Women's Leader, Youth Leader, and Organising Secretary) are similarly restricted to their states and zones. The council wants to boost visibility for APC candidates in State Houses of Assembly, the House of Representatives, and Senate at local rallies.
The 2027 campaign flagged off in Kaduna on October 24, with rallies already held in Cross River (led by VP Shettima on November 2) and Gombe. Tinubu will personally attend rallies in just 12 states—Kaduna, Rivers, Plateau, Oyo, Borno, Enugu, Bauchi, Sokoto, Delta, Kano, Adamawa, and Lagos—with the grand finale set for Lagos on January 9, 2027. Other rallies will be handled by party leaders.
This strategy signals the APC's bet on localised mobilisation over presidential star power. With Tinubu appearing in only one-third of states, the burden shifts to ministers and appointees to deliver their home territories. Will restricting national figures to local rallies actually energise the base, or does it expose weak grassroots structures that need the president's presence to activate?