President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has appealed to voters in Ekiti State to give him at least 90 per cent of the total votes cast in the January 16, 2027 presidential election, expressing confidence that his administration deserves another four-year mandate to continue developing the country.
The President also dismissed the capacity of his political opponents, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, to match his leadership credentials and political experience.
Tinubu made the appeal on Thursday through Vice President Kashim Shettima at the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign rally held at the Ekitiparapo Pavilion in Ado-Ekiti.
He spoke against the backdrop of growing political alignment in Ekiti State, where Governor Biodun Oyebanji has brought together former governors and opposition political figures to support the President’s re-election bid.
Commending Ekiti voters for re-electing Oyebanji with 87.5 per cent of the total votes cast in the June 20 governorship election, Tinubu described the result as evidence of the state’s strong support for the APC.
Speaking on his administration’s achievements in Ekiti, Tinubu listed the completion of the Ado-Ikere-Akure road and the award of contracts for the reconstruction of the Ado-Ijan-Iluomoba-Ikole and Ado-Aramoko-Ita Ore roads.
In his remarks, Governor Biodun Oyebanji declared that Ekiti State was united behind Tinubu, assuring the President and APC leaders that the state would improve on its electoral performance in the 2023 presidential election.
Oyebanji, who led former opposition governorship candidates, including the Peoples Democratic Party’s Wole Oluyede, to address the gathering, described the President’s support for Ekiti as deserving of electoral appreciation.
Also speaking, the Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council and former Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari, assured Tinubu that voters in Northern Nigeria would not betray him despite his past political support for former President Muhammadu Buhari and other prominent northern leaders.
Yari urged Ekiti voters to deliver at least 900,000 votes for Tinubu, expressing confidence that the political unity established by Oyebanji would make the target achievable.
The Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, and the Ekiti State APC Chairman, Barrister Sola Elesin, also commended the people for their support for the ruling party.
The rally attracted a large crowd of APC members, supporters and opposition politicians, who filled the 12,000-capacity Ekitiparapo Pavilion in Ado-Ekiti.
Among the dignitaries present were Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his wife, Ibijoke; Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa; and former Ekiti governors Kayode Fayemi, Ayodele Fayose and Niyi Adebayo.
Others included Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Chief (Mrs) Monisade Afuye; Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Adeoye Aribasoye; Senators Yemi Adaramodu and Cyril Fasuyi; members of the House of Representatives, ministers, commissioners, special advisers and other party leaders.
