…Inaugurates 1,235-Member Campaign Council, Targets 5 Million Votes
The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has directed its candidates for the 2027 general elections not to travel out of the country until after the elections.
The party gave the directive on Friday while inaugurating its 1,235-member PBAT-KOH Campaign Council at the APC Secretariat, ACME, Lagos.
The State Chairman of the party, Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi, who announced the directive, also urged all candidates to cooperate fully with the campaign council and focus on issue-based campaigns in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Act.
Ojelabi described the inauguration as a milestone in deepening democracy in Lagos State and Nigeria, charging members of the council to work together to deliver the expected results for the party at the polls.
According to him, members of the council have what it takes to make the party proud, noting that all the candidates were eminently qualified to represent the party.
He urged them to approach the assignment with utmost discipline, clarity of purpose and accountability.
The APC chairman also cautioned against complacency, saying there were no pushovers among the political parties, as every party was determined to win and make a statement in the election.
Ojelabi said that with 118 days to the presidential election, the task before the campaign council was enormous, urging members to move into communities and work towards securing at least five million out of the seven million votes in Lagos for the party.
He said the strategy was to localise the campaign, declaring “Operation Man Your Polling Boots” across the 13,325 polling units in the state.
Speaking at the event, the governorship candidate of the party, Dr. Kadri Hamzat, urged party members not to be afraid to campaign for the re-election of President Bola Tinubu, citing his role in conceiving the Lekki Free Trade Zone and his administration’s efforts to reposition the Nigerian economy.
Hamzat also said the President was tackling insecurity by prosecuting Boko Haram elements and other criminals in different parts of the country.
He urged members to support the President with a target of at least four million votes out of the seven million registered voters in Lagos, adding that ongoing renovation at the airport and strategic interventions in agriculture had created more jobs for citizens.
The Director-General of the PBAT-KOH Campaign Council, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, said the inauguration marked the beginning of a serious assignment and a defining period for the party.
Obanikoro cautioned members against treating their roles as ceremonial, urging them to put the past behind them and work as a team towards achieving the party’s mandate.
He said the 2027 elections would shape the future of the country, stressing the need for every member to give their best and for all directorates to deploy their strengths towards one common purpose.
The former Deputy Governor, Prince Abiodun Ogunleye, who spoke on behalf of the Chairman of the Governance Advisory Council, Prince Tajudeen Olusi, described Hamzat as competent and knowledgeable enough to govern the state.
