President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid received a boost on Friday as no fewer than 15 governorship candidates of the opposition Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA) declared support for his second-term ambition, pledging to mobilise their grassroots political structures across the country for his re-election.

The candidates, led by the chairman of their forum and Taraba State governorship candidate, Hon. Aboki Bayonga, announced their endorsement at a press conference in Abuja, saying they had resolved to support Tinubu after consultations among members.

They, however, ruled out defecting to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), insisting that their support for the President would not affect their ambitions to contest governorship, Senate, House of Representatives and state House of Assembly seats on the DLA platform.

Bayonga said the decision was informed by the absence of a presidential candidate on the DLA platform for the 2027 election and the candidates’ assessment of the performance of the Tinubu administration.

“As the Forum of Governorship Candidates of DLA, we are here today declaring our support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as our presidential candidate in 2027. Not that we have dropped our aspirations under our own platform. But as for the presidential, we are for Asiwaju 100 per cent.

“We will work for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to come back. We will do everything possible to make sure that Asiwaju is back in 2027,” he said.

The candidates said they had considered available options ahead of the 2027 general elections before concluding that Tinubu should be given another four years to consolidate his administration’s programmes.

Bayonga cited the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), agricultural support initiatives and road construction projects as some of the reasons for the endorsement, arguing that the policies required more time to deliver their intended benefits.

On education, he said the student loan scheme had expanded opportunities for young Nigerians seeking higher education, while agricultural interventions had provided support to farmers, particularly those in rural communities.

“In terms of agriculture, recently, trailers of fertilisers were moving around the country, and they would give you fertiliser and add you N50,000. It helped the farmer, especially those in the rural areas,” he said.

The DLA candidates also commended the administration’s road construction projects, arguing that investments in infrastructure could deliver long-term benefits to Nigerians.

Bayonga maintained that a single four-year term might not be sufficient to complete programmes requiring sustained planning, investment and implementation.

“Looking at all the presidential candidates, we compared them and found that the present government has a lot of things that, if given another four years, it will achieve them, and Nigeria will be better,” he said.

The endorsement comes amid efforts by pro-Tinubu political groups to expand the President’s support base ahead of the 2027 general elections, with political mobilisation in northern Nigeria expected to feature prominently in the presidential contest.

One of the groups seeking to coordinate such efforts is Arewa for Asiwaju (A4A), a political mobilisation platform established to rally support for Tinubu across the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The group’s objectives include strengthening grassroots participation, addressing voter apathy, coordinating campaign activities and publicising the administration’s projects and programmes in the North to counter claims that the region has been neglected.

Its Board of Trustees is chaired by former Kano State governor and former Minister of Education, Senator Ibrahim Shekarau, while former Yobe State governor and Minister of Police Affairs, Senator Ibrahim Geidam, and former Plateau State governor, Senator Simon Bako Lalong, serve as deputy chairmen.

Other prominent figures associated with the platform include former governors Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, Ibrahim Shema, Yahaya Bello, Isa Yuguda and Jolly Nyame, as well as Senators Aliyu Wamakko and Joshua Dariye and Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Brigadier-General Buba Marwa (retd.).

Badaru is expected to coordinate the group’s national operations as Director-General, while Hadiza Bala-Usman is to lead its national secretariat.

Despite their endorsement of Tinubu, the DLA governorship candidates stressed that their decision was limited to the presidential election and would not affect their political ambitions under their party’s platform.

Bayonga said they would continue to campaign for DLA candidates seeking other elective offices, maintaining that their support for Tinubu should not be interpreted as an endorsement of the APC as a political party.

“We are not campaigning for our party’s presidential candidate because we don’t have one. We are working for our party in all other positions: governorship, Senate, House of Representatives, House of Assembly and other elections.

“But our support for Tinubu is as a presidential candidate, not for APC, but for Tinubu as a candidate. We are going to work for him to make sure that he comes back in 2027,” he said.

On whether the endorsement had the backing of the DLA’s national leadership, Bayonga said the forum had collectively agreed on the decision following a meeting.

Asked whether the party’s national chairman and other governorship candidates had been consulted, he maintained that the endorsement reflected the position reached by members of the forum.

“I am the chairman of the forum of governorship candidates of DLA. And you can see all of us are here. We had a general meeting yesterday. We agreed upon what we are doing here,” he said.

The candidates expressed confidence that their established grassroots networks and relationships with voters would help them mobilise support for Tinubu across their respective states.

Responding to a question on the number of votes they expected to deliver to the President, Bayonga said their influence would depend on their individual political connections and relationships with voters rather than party affiliation alone.

He noted that several members of the forum had previously belonged to other political parties before joining the DLA to pursue their political ambitions.

According to him, candidates seeking elective offices must have established political networks and community support, which the forum intends to deploy in support of Tinubu’s re-election bid.

He, however, did not disclose a specific target for the number of votes the candidates expected to mobilise for the President.

Bayonga also dismissed concerns that Tinubu’s re-election could pave the way for a life presidency, insisting that the office of the President remained subject to the Constitution and the will of Nigerians.

He maintained that no individual could claim permanent ownership of the presidency or remain in office beyond the period permitted by the Constitution.

Other governorship candidates present at the briefing included the forum’s secretary, Alhaji Adamu Idrisu Chado of Kaduna State; Hon. Bekky Folorunso James of Osun State; Prof. Valdya Tame of Adamawa State; Hon. Ibrahim Musa of the Federal Capital Territory; Hon. Sam Umar of Plateau State; Alhaji Sani Mohammed of Gombe State; Hon. Nnamdi Ugwu of Enugu State; and Hon. Brent Micheal of Bauchi State, among others.