Get Guardian on Google…..Targets 25–30 per cent Tinubu votes in South-East, mobilises GAT’s seven million members
Former Imo State Governor and Senator, Rochas Okorocha, has called on Nigerians in the North to support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027, saying the President deserves political reciprocity for the support he gave former President Muhammadu Buhari to emerge and remain in office.
Rochas Okorocha, who spoke yesterday in Abuja during his inauguration as National Grand Patron of Grassroots Advocacy for Tinubu (GAT), said Tinubu subordinated his presidential ambition to support Buhari’s emergence in 2015 and remained a committed political ally throughout his eight-year administration.
He argued that the North should reciprocate the gesture by supporting Tinubu for a second term, particularly as the President’s tenure would pave the way for the eventual return of presidential power to the region.According to him, the political sentiment in the North is that supporting Tinubu for another four years would be preferable to supporting another southern candidate for an additional eight years.
Okorocha said: “Even when he was sick, and Nigerians had given up on Buhari, Tinubu was there, a strong ally supporting him. So today, it is the duty of the Northerners to pay back the support.”
The former governor, who described himself as one of the founding fathers of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said his commitment to Tinubu’s re-election was also informed by his belief in the party’s founding vision.He recalled his contribution to the formation of the APC, claiming that he suggested the party’s name when governors and other political leaders met in Lagos to establish a formidable opposition platform.
He said he remained proud of the party’s achievements and was excited whenever its electoral prospects and candidates were discussed.Okorocha also urged APC campaign organisations to pay greater attention to promoting the party’s logo alongside Tinubu’s campaign symbol, warning that excessive concentration on the President’s campaign identity could confuse rural voters on election day.He explained that Tinubu’s name would not appear on the ballot paper, but the APC logo would, making it important for grassroots supporters to familiarise voters with the party’s symbol.
“What will be on the ballot paper is the logo of the party. So why would we promote this sign, the broken shackle, which also promotes the APC logo?” he queried.
He urged the party to correct what he described as an emerging campaign communication gap, particularly among rural women and other voters who might identify more readily with the party’s familiar logo.
On the South-East, Okorocha expressed confidence that the region could improve its support for Tinubu in 2027, targeting between 25 and 30 per cent of the votes for the APC presidential candidate.
He recalled that the region gave Tinubu approximately five per cent of its votes in the 2023 presidential election, but said the outcome would be different if grassroots mobilisation and strategic political engagement were intensified.
He attributed the different political calculations across the six geopolitical zones to historical relationships, political interests and expectations concerning power rotation.According to him, the South-West would naturally support Tinubu as its son, while the South-South had reasons to appreciate the President’s interventions in the region.
He said the South-East should, however, approach the 2027 election through strategic political alliances rather than sentiments.Okorocha stressed that supporting Tinubu would not amount to abandoning the region’s political interests or its own prominent political figures.
He said: “Our vote for Tinubu is not to the detriment of our own. It is simply that we are seeing beyond the world and seeing the future better than seeing today.”
He maintained that the region’s support for Tinubu should be understood as a strategic alliance that could strengthen its bargaining position in future national political arrangements.
The former governor pledged to lead a nationwide mobilisation campaign through GAT, promising to appoint representatives from the six geopolitical zones to coordinate the organisation’s activities.He said the group’s existing membership and grassroots structures would be deployed to strengthen Tinubu’s re-election campaign.
Okorocha also acknowledged the economic difficulties confronting Nigerians, saying supporters of the administration should not ignore the concerns of citizens while communicating the benefits of the government’s reform agenda.
He described Tinubu as a courageous leader willing to take difficult decisions that previous administrations might have avoided.According to him, although some of the policies had brought immediate hardship, the administration’s reform measures were intended to create a better economic future for the country.
Earlier, the National Coordinator of GAT, Prof. Ochugudu Achoda Ipuele, said the organisation chose Okorocha as its National Grand Patron because of his humanitarian interventions, grassroots political experience and commitment to human development.Ipuele particularly highlighted the Rochas Foundation’s educational interventions, including free education and scholarships for indigent and disadvantaged children.
He also cited Okorocha’s tenure as governor of Imo State and senator, as well as his Community Government Council initiative, as evidence of his experience in grassroots political organisation and community mobilisation.The GAT coordinator disclosed that the organisation had mobilised and documented 7,062,604 members across the country.
He said the group had digitalised its structures and operations to sustain communication with members, including those at polling-unit level, while developing a feedback mechanism to monitor their concerns and expectations.Ipuele listed the organisation’s activities to include advocacy programmes explaining the policies and achievements of the Tinubu administration in different Nigerian languages, youth development, entrepreneurship training and digital media engagement.
He disclosed that more than 1,000 Nigerian youths had received training in foreign exchange trading through the support of the MJ Young Foundation.He also mentioned the weekly Trade Talk programme, designed to educate and mentor traders, and the GAT Vocational Festival, Abuja 2026, which showcased local talents, promoted locally manufactured products and connected entrepreneurs to opportunities.
According to him, GAT had established a national campaign office equipped with a podcast studio and digital monitoring platform to strengthen its communication and coordination activities.He said the organisation expected Okorocha’s patronage to help translate its membership database into practical empowerment programmes, including vocational training, equipment support, access to capital and livelihood development.
Ipuele added that while GAT’s immediate objective was to communicate the achievements of the Tinubu administration and support its 2027 re-election bid, its long-term ambition was to become an enduring institution for grassroots leadership development, civic education and economic empowerment beyond the current administration.
Also speaking, the GAT National Patron for North-Central, Chief Dr Amos Yasuko Gizo, called for greater attention to political power rotation and equity among Nigeria’s geopolitical zones.
Gizo argued that the South-East should be considered in future presidential power-sharing arrangements, saying the region had legitimate expectations within Nigeria’s political structure.
He described Okorocha as a potential bridge between the North and South-East, arguing that his political background and humanitarian interventions had given him a national profile.
Gizo particularly cited the former governor’s free education initiative, saying his contribution to expanding educational opportunities for disadvantaged children deserved national recognition.
