Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, has inaugurated the Bola Tinubu Presidential Campaign Council in the state, comprising members of the All Progressives Grand Alliance and the All Progressives Congress, urging the two parties to close ranks to secure the President’s re-election in 2027.
Soludo charged members of the council to intensify grassroots mobilisation from the ward level, describing alignment with the Federal Government as being in the best interest of the South-East because of its potential to guarantee political relevance and development.
The inauguration ceremony, held at the International Convention Centre, Awka, on Sunday, brought together candidates and key stakeholders of the two parties, serving and former members of the National Assembly and the state House of Assembly, local government chairmen and political stakeholders from the 21 local government areas of the state.
Addressing the gathering, Soludo urged people of the South-East to join the progressive movement, stressing that collaboration with the Federal Government was critical to ensuring that the region remained relevant in the country’s present and future geopolitics.
He said, “We must work together for the re-election of the President. This is a journey that is for everybody in the region with one objective, which is to get Mr President re-elected. It is an inclusive journey, and everybody is welcome. It is ‘progressives working together.’
“The President is the head of this progressivism; anybody in this journey is for us, and anyone not in the journey is against us. The campaign should be based at the polling and ward units. The work should be at the polling units.
“The reason the opposition is emotional is because they don’t have superior argument, and because of this, they resort to abusive tendencies each time you bring a superior argument to counter them. We realise and believe in this principle that ‘progressives’ must unite. When we say ‘progressives are working together’, the President also believes the same. And that is why Anambra is keying into this movement.
“Mr President is a true democrat, and a progressive who believes that progressives must work together. And now, we have not done the unusual. This is the time now to walk the talk. When we say ‘progressives are working together’, we will now walk the talk.”
The governor called on people of the South-East to unite behind Tinubu, urging Anambra residents to give him massive votes across the state’s 21 local government areas.
Soludo also attributed infrastructural development in the state, increased federal allocations, economic stability and project execution to Tinubu’s economic reforms.
He said, “We are here working for the re-election of a President who has done so well for the South-East because we believe in him. We believe in his reformation agenda, and we believe that he is what Nigeria needs at this point. Our economy is stable due to his economic reforms. People are now coming to invest in Nigeria, as against when people were removing their money from Nigeria before he assumed office.
“We must not waste our votes again in 2027. In 2023, the region didn’t vote for him, but he still emerged as President and despite that, he is doing a lot for the region. Therefore, we must massively cast our votes for Mr President in 2027. Aligning the region with the Federal Government is in the best interest of the South-East, as it will guarantee political relevance and development.
“The South-East must build a strategic partnership with the centre. Therefore, we charge all of you to key into the movement for change. Collaboration with the centre is critical to ensuring that the South-East remains relevant in the country’s present and future geopolitics.
“All the projects we are talking about, like the railways, gas pipeline and critical infrastructure, the state government’s money cannot do it; therefore, we need partnership with the Federal Government.”
The governor formally inaugurated the campaign council after members sang the President’s slogan, “On the mandate we shall stand”.
He said the full structure, comprising members of the APC and APGA, would be unveiled soon.
