According to House of Representatives member Leke Abejide, the All Progressives Congress is aiming to secure a minimum of 12.5 million ballots from its estimated pool of 13 million registered members during the upcoming 2027 general elections.
Abejide, who represents Yagba East, Yagba West and Mopamuro Federal Constituency of Kogi State, expressed confidence that the ruling party would secure a decisive victory for President Bola Tinubu, arguing that its growing membership and support across political divides would strengthen its electoral prospects.
Speaking on TVC News’ Beyond the Headlines, the lawmaker, who is also Deputy Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council in Kogi State’s Western Senatorial District, said the party expected at least 90 per cent of its registered members to vote for its candidates.
He said, “Write down a minimum of 12.5 million out of the 13 million for APC. I don’t want to say the whole 13 million, but definitely 12.5 million out of it will be for us.”
Abejide projected that the party could secure more than 20 million votes for Tinubu when support from Nigerians outside the APC is added.
He argued that beneficiaries of the Federal Government’s social intervention programmes and other policies would support the President at the polls, even if they belonged to opposition parties.
“People will not vote for party this time. Most of them, because of what he is doing and they are benefiting, will support him with their votes,” he said.
The lawmaker also dismissed the possibility of a strong opposition challenge to the APC in 2027, citing the party’s growing political influence and the number of governors and other political figures supporting Tinubu’s re-election.
On the party’s mobilisation efforts, Abejide said his recent empowerment programme in Kano State was part of a broader strategy to attract votes from Yoruba and other non-indigenous communities ahead of the election.
He said the initiative targeted women, widows and vulnerable residents from Yoruba-speaking states, including Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Kwara and Kogi, as well as other ethnic communities.
According to him, the initial target was to mobilise at least one million votes from the communities, but Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf and former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello expressed confidence that the state could deliver even more.
Abejide explained that Kano had become a second home to him after living and doing business there for about 34 years.
He said the decision to extend his empowerment activities to Kano was also informed by the relatively low number of votes Tinubu secured in the state in the 2023 presidential election.
The lawmaker said a separate youth mobilisation programme was being planned to complement the ongoing engagement with women and other community groups.
On his political defection from the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to the APC, Abejide claimed that his constituents supported the move, insisting that many had urged him to join the ruling party.
He also highlighted his constituency interventions, including educational support, non-interest loans for women, infrastructure projects and community-based security initiatives.
Abejide said his empowerment programmes relied on direct beneficiary registration and cooperative structures to ensure that assistance reached intended recipients.
He maintained that the APC’s internal disagreements following its primaries would not undermine its preparations for the 2027 elections,.
He says most disputes had been resolved, while the remaining cases in court were unlikely to affect the party’s electoral prospects.
What You Should Know
Lawmaker Leke Abejide has shared the ruling party’s internal electoral target for the 2027 presidential race, expressing strong optimism that President Bola Tinubu will secure massive support from both party members and beneficiaries of government programs.
- Political Outlook: Demonstrates the ruling party’s aggressive early mobilization strategies and confidence in retaining power.
- Wider Impact: Highlights how the government plans to leverage social intervention programs to appeal to voters across political divides.
