.Vows to provide 10m votes
.We stand with Tinubu in Rivers, says Fubara
CYRIL MBAH, Abuja
As the nation inches closer to the 2027 general election, the Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT) Vanguard, has strongly defended President Tinubu’s desire for a second term in office stating that the president needs more time to complete the reforms and transformation agenda he initiated.
While endorsing the president for a second tenure in office, at the BAT Vanguard End-of-Year party and special recognition awards ceremony held in Abuja on Wednwsday night, with the theme: “Standing Firm for Renewed Hope: The BAT Vanguard Mandate.
The Convener and chairman of the board of Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Hon. Sola Olofin said the group believes that the president’s performance, his capacity, vision and proven leadership needs continuity in office.
Olofin disclosed that the BAT Vanguard has launched a major national social investment initiative inspired by the Renewed Hope vision to commence in 2026 with a targeted social assistance programme aimed at supporting more than 50,000 vulnerable households nationwide with food stuff, school materials and other necessary welfare items.
He praised the president for taking bold decisions that were postponed for decades by previous administrations to improve on the economy and secure Nigeria’s future.
“From critical fiscal reforms and subsidy rationalization, to restoring investor confidence, stabilizing monetary policy, accelerating infrastructure development, and redesigning social investment programmes, the direction is clear.
Nigeria is being rebuilt deliberately, systematically, and with vision.
“We believe the reforms must be consolidated. And we believe President Tinubu remains the best leader to complete this transformation.
As we look ahead to 2026, BAT Vanguard is repositioning itself not just as a campaign structure, but as a governance-support institution.
“We are set to embark on a structured monitoring and evaluation engagement across key Ministries, Departments, and Agencies to support compliance with the Renewed Hope Agenda.
This is not to antagonize any appointee, but to strengthen delivery, accountability, and citizen confidence.
“As we move toward 2027, our objective is clear and measurable: to mobilize and deliver no fewer than 10 million votes for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
We are expanding, reenergizing, and strengthening our structures to make this vision a reality,” Olofin declared.
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress(APC), Dr. O’Diakpo Obire, who spoke at the event said since May 2023, President Tinubu has embarked on a wide range of bold reforms in the nation’s history, ranging from economic restructuring to fiscal discipline; infrastructure renewal to social investment and energy reform to enhanced regional leadership.
“Under President Tinubu; Nigeria’s finances have been placed on a more sustainable path; infrastructure renewal, roads, rails, ports, are accelerating across states; the Students’ Loan Fund has opened new doors for young people and foreign exchange reforms are stabilising long-term investor confidence.
“Power sector interventions are opening space for renewed generation and distribution and targeted social programs are being recalibrated to support vulnerable households.
These are not easy reforms. They are the kind of decisive actions necessary to build a stronger economy, a more competitive nation, and a fairer society,” Obire said.
Obire also remarked that the reforms can only succeed, when public understanding and grassroots support are provided, pointing out that BAT Vanguard and its loyal members eill continue to take government achievements to the grassroots, with the hope of countering deliberate misinformation and ensuring citizens understand the long-term benefits of the administration’s policies.
“As we approach the 2027 elections, the task before BAT Vanguard becomes even more critical. The story of President Tinubu’s reforms must be told with clarity.
The progress achieved must be translated into political value. And the trust of the Nigerian people must be deepened through engagement, transparency, and consistent mobilisation.
“BAT Vanguard must strengthen its structures and target all 774 Local Government Areas, expand youth and women engagement platforms, establish policy advocacy desks to explain government programme, mobilise Nigerians based on facts, achievements, and shared national vision, and galvanize support that ensures President Tinubu’s re-election for continuity, stability, and consolidation,”he added.
In separate remarks, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris Malagi and the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Information and National Orientation, Hon. Fatoba Olusola pledged to work with BAT Vanguard towards educating people on Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to dispel rumours, particularly from the opposition as the nation heads towards the 2027 general elections.
.We stand with Tinubu in Rivers, says Fubara
In another development, Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara has assured the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) that everything possible will be made to ensure that the party’s roots are firmly planted in Rivers State to ensure that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu receives 100% votes during the 2027 general elections.
Governor Fubara, who made these remarks when he visited the National Secretariat, for the first time since joining the APC early this month, assured the party of full cooperation in advancing APC programmes and ideals in Rivers State.
“I cannot belong to a house without first coming into the house and understanding how it is arranged.
I felt it would be proper for me to visit the National Secretariat today to familiarize myself with the members and the operations.
This way, when I come here next time, it won’t feel as if I am a new person.
“So, I am here this evening, to assure you that I have come in, and we will work together to ensure that this party becomes greater than it is in Rivers.
The greatness we all desire from this party is the success of Mr. President. We cannot grow or expand if Mr. President is not succeeding.
I can assure you that we are already showing evidence of success in my state through what we are delivering and the number of people affirming their support.
“Because you are standing with Mr. President, we are also now standing with Mr. President.
This evening, on behalf of the good people of Rivers State, my supportive members of the National Assembly, and members of the State Assembly who are with us, I can assure you that your new home is Rivers State.
“I will be inviting you over so that you can also come. I am saying now that I have come to my father’s house to see how it is.
I am now in my father’s house, but it will also be proper for the father to come to his son’s house, so that the people of Rivers State will know that this is truly a complete process.
I will leave it at this but let me end by thanking every one of you for your time and assuring you of the total support of my government and the people of Rivers State,” Fubara said.
Responding on behalf of the APC National Chairman, Professor Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, the APC National Secretary, Senator Ajibola Basiru, commended the governor for making out time to visit the party National Secretariat, adding, “I will say that, as a party, we are very happy that you have decided to join us.
“With your orientation, you are progressive and true, and, of course, you complete the circle for us in the South-South region.
The geopolitical zone is the first that is completely APC.
“For people who are political watchers, if you have the South in any political party, I think the strength and the energy of that political party are more than half the power.
So, we are very confident that with you joining our party, the strength of our party, if it was at Power 15 before, it is now much better—it has become Power 100.
“We take politics very seriously. So when some people go around and say whatever they want to say, elections are not won on Twitter or in the pages of newspapers.
“Elections and politics are very serious business. Our leader, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is not just a good administrator; he is a corporate leader and a politician.
Coming fully to join him in the renewal of the agenda, as the day goes by, APC 2027 victory is assured.
“I know the national leadership will conduct a proper naming ceremony as our new baby, which will be a very large one.
But the more important thing is that our party is a party of discipline, a party of leadership, and a party that respects the line of command.
In our party, there is what they call democratic centralism. Yes, there is democracy, but it must be guided by certain values, principles, and policy.
“Today, we are blessed with a very cerebral, calm, and level-headed president who is also matched with a calm, cerebral, and level-headed National Chairman of our party, who looks at issues objectively without any form of bias.
As far as we are concerned, Rivers State is going to deliver for us, but it is not that we are afraid of the North, like on paper. That is not true. The bulk of our support is from all over Nigeria.
“What we are trying to create is a pan-Nigerian political party. We are trying to create what has been lacking in the trajectory of development of Nigeria.
We are trying to create an elite consensus for development and progress,” the national secretary concluded.
Speaking with APC correspondents after the visit, Fubara said it would be wrong not to regard him as a progressive politician,adding, “When you say a new member of the Progressives, that is incorrect.
I have always been a progressive at heart. We now have a direction. Maybe before we didn’t have a leader or a governor as the head of the party.
Now that I am a member of the APC, I will ensure that I bring everybody together for more unity and progress of the party in the state. So, nothing to worry about—we have a direction now.
“I think my transition was one of the easiest things I’ve done in my life. I call it easy because saying thank you is very simple.
Showing appreciation and gratitude is easy.
“My joining the All Progressives Congress is to say thank you to Mr. President and to join hands with other progressives to develop my state and Nigeria at large.
It wasn’t a difficult decision; it was easy. If you know my story, you should understand what it means.
“If I have to be honest, was I really a member of the PDP? I wasn’t.
Whatever I suffered during the political crisis, 90% of it was imposed on me by the party. I was in my former party as a figure, just there.
During the crisis, you can’t associate me with any group. I was just, let me say, at the balcony watching. I wasn’t inside the house; I was outside, at the balcony.”
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