Labour Party Tackles Tinubu Over Plan To Skip Campaign Tours

The Labour Party has tackled President Bola Tinubu over his plan to skip campaign tours ahead of the 2027 presidential election, describing the decision as callous and disrespectful to Nigerians.

Recall, President Tinubu had said on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, while inaugurating the APC Presidential Campaign Council at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, that he would not join the campaign team on every tour of nationwide campaigns because governance must continue.

He said members of the council have the capacity to go to states and local government areas to mobilise the citizenry, while he will find time to speak directly to Nigerians, adding that “American creditors cannot wait.”

Speaking with LEADERSHIP, the Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Eluma Asogwa, said it is obvious that marketing his scorecard to Nigerians is not a priority to the President, especially after spending roughly one month abroad on vacation.

“I’m not President Tinubu’s personal physician to determine his state of fitness to go through the rigours of state-by-state campaign. However, given that the President just returned from an extended vacation where he spent roughly one month abroad, it is obvious that going round the states to market his scorecards in the last 3 years is far from being a priority to him,” he said.

He further said the Presidency told Nigerians the President was on vacation and never said he was sick, so he should be fit enough to face voters.

“When he travelled abroad, his media handlers told us he was vacationing abroad; we were never told he was sick. So, if the President is fit as a fiddle as his handlers would have us believe, then it is callous and disrespectful of him not to go round to tell Nigerians why he should deserve a second term in office,” he added

Asogwa said the President owes Nigerians a direct account of his stewardship and why he deserves another four-year mandate.

“The President owes it to Nigerians to explain to us why we should trust him with another 4-year mandate. This is a day of reckoning for him when Nigerians deserve to hear directly from the man who has led them in the last three years,” he stated.

He insisted that only Tinubu can defend the gains of subsidy removal, naira floatation and other policies, not his aides.

“He has to personally tell Nigerians the gains so far recorded from subsidy removal, Naira floatation and other policies of his administration. It’s only him that can address that during campaign stops, not Bayo Onanuga or Daniel Bwala,” Asogwa said.

On the inauguration of the campaign council inside Aso Rock, Asogwa said the Presidential Villa should be separated from partisan interests.

“Much as this is reprehensible, I must admit that it did not start with President Tinubu. Buhari too did it. But that does not make it right. Aso Rock, the cynosure and symbol of our governance as a country, should be separated from partisan interests,” he said.

On voter turnout for 2027, Asogwa said the opposition must mobilise Nigerians because the ruling party benefits from apathy.

“This is largely dependent on the capacity of the opposition to mobilise the people. It is only the opposition that can play the role of charging the people to take more than a passive interest in the politics of 2027,

“APC would prefer to have a voter apathy in 2027. It helps them to manipulate the system. But when the people mobilise en masse, politicians would be forced to comport, and it is only the opposition that can take up that mantle. APC won’t do it because it pays them not to have people file out to vote,” he said.