The Edo State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Emperor Jarret Tenebe, has declared that he is prepared to make extraordinary sacrifices to ensure the party delivers its promised 2.5 million votes to President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.
Tenebe made the declaration during an interview on Television Continental (TVC), monitored by LEADERSHIP in Benin City, as the Edo APC intensifies its grassroots mobilisation ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The APC chairman, speaking emphatically on the party’s vote target, said he was prepared to remove any obstacle standing in the way of achieving the 2.5 million-vote pledge.
In his words: “No matter what it takes, even if my hand will be an impediment in getting the 2.5 million votes we promised the President, I will cut off the hands. Even if it is my head, I will cut it off.”
“In Edo State, we only promise to give 2.5 million votes to Mr President and anybody that would try to come our way would make that person the way. Anything humanly possible, we are ready to do it to get these votes for Mr President.”
Tenebe said the commitment to deliver the votes was not merely a political slogan, stressing that the Edo APC leadership was determined to deploy every legitimate political strategy necessary to achieve the target.
Tenebe said the party’s immediate objective was to consolidate its structures across the 18 local government areas and mobilise party faithful and voters around the Tinubu presidency.
He explained that the issue was no longer whether President Tinubu would win the 2027 presidential election, but the margin of votes that would contribute to his victory.
“It is no longer whether the President would win. The President will win. But the number that he is going to use to win is what matters,” Tenebe said.
He added that APC state chairmen across the country were already discussing the performance of their respective states in terms of votes for the President.
“Even in our meeting with state chairmen, we talk to ourselves: who is going to be the first to get the highest number of votes?” he said.
On the possibility of the APC entering into political arrangements or coalitions within Edo State in pursuit of the 2027 objective, Tenebe said the party had not formally taken a collective position against such an arrangement.
He stated: “I can only comment about Edo and what I am saying is that there was no general meeting where we condemned coalition or accepted the coalition.”
Tenebe, however, said states seeking to maximise their votes for President Tinubu could explore political arrangements that would help them achieve their objectives.
He said, “I am sure many states who are willing to ensure that they deliver for the President would be ready to do anything to get the required votes in their various states.”
The APC chairman also clarified his position on reports concerning APC state chairmen’s rejection of the coalition being championed by former Rivers State governor and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
According to Tenebe, state APC chairmen could not independently speak for the party on such a matter where the governors had taken a position.
He said, “There was no time APC chairmen made this comment, and the reason is because the governors are the leaders of the party in their various states.”
Tenebe added that “when the governors are on anything, the state chairmen don’t have the right to comment on it and whatever outcome, we will be instructed as such.”
The remarks came as the Edo APC, under Governor Monday Okpebholo’s leadership, steps up its grassroots mobilisation across the state.
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