BY AHMED AKANBI
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Umar Dauda Duhu, has urged the party leadership to include former members of its National Working Committee, NWC, in the proposed Presidential Campaign Council for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid.
Duhu made the appeal in a memorandum dated September 1, 2026, addressed to the APC National Chairman through the National Secretary, Senator Ajibola Basiru.
The memo, titled “Formal Request for the Inclusion of Former Members of the National Working Committee in the APC Presidential Campaign Council and for a Stakeholders’ Reassurance Meeting,” argued that ex-national officers possess the experience, institutional knowledge and grassroots networks needed to strengthen the campaign.
He expressed concern over what he described as the apparent exclusion of many former NWC members from the emerging campaign structure despite their continued membership and contributions to the party.
According to Duhu, sidelining former national officers could create avoidable gaps in mobilisation and deny the council access to politicians with extensive contacts across the country.
He said the APC’s commitment to internal democracy and inclusiveness, as enshrined in Article 7 of the 2022 Constitution as amended, should guide the composition of the Presidential Campaign Council.
The APC chieftain also warned against over-reliance on political appointees in the campaign structure, saying it could weaken grassroots mobilisation and breed discontent among long-serving stakeholders.
Duhu listed possible consequences of excluding experienced leaders to include alienation of critical stakeholders, weakening of grassroots structures, voter apathy in strategic states, and giving opposition parties room to exploit perceptions of internal division.
“Party politics is, by its very nature, a contact and mobilisation enterprise that is better and more rigorously handled by career politicians who have direct lines to the base,” he stated.
Beyond the campaign council, Duhu urged the National Chairman to convene a closed-door stakeholders’ meeting involving former NWC members from the era of Chief Bisi Akande to the present NWC.
He said the meeting would provide an opportunity for the leadership to reassure stakeholders of its commitment to inclusiveness and collective participation ahead of 2027.
“The National Chairman should, as a matter of urgency, convene and personally invite all former members of the National Working Committee… to a persuasive closed-door meeting,” the memorandum stated.
Duhu urged the NWC to review the composition of the Presidential Campaign Council to ensure balance between political appointees, serving officials, former national officers and other key stakeholders.
He said former NWC members should be co-opted in capacities deemed appropriate by the leadership, stressing that their experience and networks could enhance mobilisation from national level down to polling units.
The APC chieftain maintained that carrying all critical stakeholders along would not only strengthen Tinubu’s re-election bid but also reinforce unity and confidence among party members nationwide.