‎* We’re ready for anything  —  ADC

‎* 2023 taught us not to trust system, says Obi’s ally

‎By Teddy Nwanunobi

‎Ahead of the 2027 general elections, President Bola Tinubu has received the support of the governors from Northern states to be re-elected for a second term.

‎This followed a meeting of the political stakeholders from the 19 Northern states and senior members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Sunday at the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Conference Centre, Kaduna State to mobilise support to re-elect Tinubu and the Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, during the 2027 general elections.

‎However, this will not be easy as the opposition has expressed readiness to battle it out with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) during the presidential election.

‎The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has said it is prepared for any outcome ahead of the 2027 general elections, insisting that it is confident of defeating the APC, if the election is free and fair.

‎On her part, an ally of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress, (NDC), Mrs Aisha Yesufu, has hinted that the party will deploy a nationwide network of election agents in 2027 to monitor votes from polling units through the collation process to the final declaration in Abuja.

‎Daily NewsCraft reports that the high-powered gathering in Kaduna was part of efforts to strengthen support for the Tinubu administration in the region.

‎Among those at the event were Governors Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State, Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State, and Babagana Zulum of Borno State, alongside Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State.

‎Also in attendance were: the Minister of Defence, Alhaji Bello Matawalle; Minister of Housing, Engr Mustapha Rabe Darma; and other senior government officials.

‎The gathering was organised by the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Alhaji Ibrahim Masari, as part of a stakeholders’ engagement with delegates of the Northern Nigerian Women Ulama from the 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

‎Speaking at the event, Sani said the convergence of political leaders and stakeholders reflected growing support for the Tinubu administration across the region.

‎He said the Northern Women Ulama, who represent millions of women across the region, had endorsed Tinubu for a second term based on what they described as the administration’s achievements in education, infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture and skills development.

‎“They are not endorsing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu based on sentiments or some selfish reasons. It is simply because of what he has done for Nigeria and for Northern Nigeria in particular,” Sani said.

‎The governor said the women had particularly acknowledged what he described as Tinubu’s inclusive approach to governance, arguing that the administration had demonstrated fairness in the distribution of development projects and opportunities across the country.

‎According to him, education remained one of the critical areas requiring intervention in Northern Nigeria because of the gap in educational development between the region and other parts of the country.

‎Sani said the Tinubu administration had invested in conventional education as well as skills acquisition through Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).

‎He said available data from NELFUND and TVET indicated that Northern Nigeria had benefited significantly from the programmes.

‎“As some of them have said here, if you go to the dashboard of NELFUND and TVET, Northern Nigeria has benefited to the tune of over 60 per cent.

‎“That is simply because President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is detribalised. He is someone who believes in one Nigeria without discrimination,” he said.

‎The governor urged the stakeholders to take their message of support for Tinubu to communities, wards and local government areas across the region.

‎“We, as governors who are supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, are here to support them, to motivate them to do more and take their message to all the 19 Northern states, and all our wards and local governments,” he said.

‎Sani further claimed that the North had benefited more under the Tinubu administration than under any previous government in the country, saying the claim could be supported with data and statistics.

‎“The North has benefited under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu more than any leader in the history of Nigeria. We have the data and the statistics and we can prove it any day, anytime,” he said.

‎He also dismissed attempts by politicians to frame the 2027 election largely along Northern and Southern lines, describing such arguments as outdated and politically unproductive.

‎According to him, some politicians now campaigning on regional sentiments had previously occupied influential positions, including the vice presidency, governorships and ministerial appointments, but failed to deliver comparable benefits to the North.

‎He urged the stakeholders to focus on development, inclusion and good governance rather than allowing regional sentiments to dominate political discourse ahead of the 2027 elections.

‎Sani said the convergence also underscored the importance of building a broad political coalition around the Tinubu administration and ensuring that its achievements were communicated directly to citizens across the region.

‎The event ended with calls for stronger mobilisation across the Northern states in support of the Tinubu administration and continued political cooperation among governors, federal officials, traditional and religious leaders, and grassroots stakeholders ahead of the 2027 elections.

‎Speaking on their readiness ahead of the general elections in 2027, the ADC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the party had no doubt about its chances at the polls but expressed concern over the credibility of the electoral process.

‎“Yes, we believe so. In a free and fair election, we have no doubt in my mind that we win this election,” Abdullahi said during an interview on the Naija Unfiltered Podcast, while responding to whether the opposition party could realistically defeat the incumbent despite the multiplicity of opposition groups.

‎The ADC spokesman said the party was prepared to protect its votes, alleging that the APC would seek to manipulate the 2027 election.

‎“The challenge is: Will there be a fair and fair election. We are ready for that. We are ready for anything. If you are dealing with these APC people, you have to be ready for anything quickly because we know that they want to steal the election. We will police our vote,” Abdullahi said.

‎Abdullahi also cited a recent comment attributed to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, about the outcome of the Osun State governorship election.

‎According to him, Wike’s suggestion that he would have delivered Osun for the APC if he were in the state raised questions about the minister and his party’s intention to influence electoral outcomes.

‎“What does that mean? That regardless of what the Osun people think, you have a way to deliver it. That’s confession,” he said.

‎The ADC spokesman further alleged that the ruling party had resorted to threats because it had lost the support of Nigerians.

‎He said, “We know Nigerians have abandoned them. They know Nigerians have abandoned them, and that’s why they are threatening everybody.”

‎Abdullahi said the ADC was therefore preparing for the 2027 election with the expectation that its supporters and votes would need to be protected throughout the electoral process.

‎Mrs Aisha Yesufu, who spoke on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, said the strategy was informed by lessons from the 2023 presidential election, which she said showed that opposition supporters could not afford to rely solely on electoral institutions to protect their votes.

‎“We have our own alternative means of ensuring that we are protected,” Mrs Yesufu said.

‎She said supporters would monitor election materials and results at every stage, from the polling unit to the ward and local government collation centres, state level and ultimately Abuja.

‎“There is no time that any ballot paper, any ballot box, result sheet or the individual will be out of our sight,” she said.

‎According to her, the movement would deploy people and resources to ensure that election materials are not diverted or altered during the collation process.

‎“We will follow them using bikes, we will follow them using boats, we will follow them by air,” she said, adding that supporters would continue monitoring the process until the results were entered and declared.

‎Mrs Yesufu said the objective was to ensure that the result declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) reflected the votes cast at the polling units.

‎“We will ensure that no vote is changed from where it is voted and entered in to the place where the INEC chairman declares the final result.

‎‘We must take over every polling unit’

‎Ms Yesufu said the focus of the 2027 campaign would extend beyond rallies to the polling units, where she said the opposition intended to have a strong presence on election day.

‎“It’s not going to be at the rallies only. For me, my own is to be at the streets at every polling unit, that we must take over every polling unit and ensure that every vote is protected,” she said.

‎She said groups were already being organised around polling units as part of the preparation.

‎“At every polling unit, right, we have a council. We have at least nothing less than 20, 50, 100 depending on the polling units already mapping that out,” she said.

‎She said the structure would bring together supporters who were committed to participating in the election and protecting the votes cast for their candidates.

‎Mrs Yesufu said the experience of the 2023 election had reinforced the need for voters and political groups to take responsibility for protecting their ballots.

‎“The lesson from 2023 is that there’s no place of trusting the system or thinking that the institutions are going to do the right thing,” she said.

‎Obi, the NDC presidential candidate, made a similar appeal to his supporters earlier in the week, urging them to defend their votes from the polling unit through to the final declaration of results.

‎Mrs Yesufu said she remained among those who believed that Obi won the 2023 presidential election, despite the declaration of President Bola Tinubu as winner by INEC and the subsequent rejection of the challenge by the courts.

‎Obi finished third in the 2023 election with 6.1 million votes, behind Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, who scored 6.9 million, and Mr Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, who won with 8.7 million votes.

‎Obi and his supporters continue to claim that he won the election even though they could not prove how the former Anambra governor won the election.