Gov Bago sets Up 525-Member Campaign Council

Niger State governor, Umaru Bago, has inaugurated a 525-member state campaign council of the All Progressives Congress (APC), promising to deliver over two million votes for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

At the ceremony yesterday, Bago assured the party that sustained mobilisation and an intensive campaign would ensure the state delivered the promised votes to the APC.

He said the President had delivered in the areas of infrastructure and other critical sectors of governance. He also boasted that the party had structures ranging from the polling unit level to the state level, including political appointees, with total membership exceeding 100,000 over the years.

According to him, “If everybody would bring their own votes, it would give us more than one million votes. But our target is beyond that. The ambition this time around is to bring out over two million votes, and by the grace of God we will do that,” Bago said, emphasising the need for mobilisation from the grassroots to the top and vice versa.

He said the APC was built on the legacy of opposition political parties and urged the party to welcome returnees who had previously defected.

The governor cited recent infrastructure and security gains, including improved roads and freer movement of goods in parts of the state, as evidence of his administration’s achievements.

He called for constructive media coverage while warning against overheating the polity or triggering insecurity.

The Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris Malagi, who was also in attendance, endorsed the choice of leadership for the council. He reiterated that the APC would campaign on the administration’s record of transforming the Nigerian economy over the past three and a half years.

He urged the newly appointed members to prioritise the collective good of the state and party unity at all levels.

Also speaking, the APC North-Central Chairman, Muazu Bawa Rijau, stressed that the party would not underestimate its opponents in the 2027 elections. He said the party aimed to re-elect Governor Bago alongside its senators, members of the House of Representatives, and state assembly members.

The Director-General of the campaign council, Ahmed Ibeto, accepted the assignment on behalf of the members, pledging hard work, strategic coordination, grassroots engagement, unity, discipline, and compliance with electoral guidelines.