The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has inaugurated its campaign council ahead of the 2027 general elections, with party leaders urging members to work together and mobilise voters for the party’s candidates.

The council, inaugurated on Friday by the PBAT-KOH Campaign Secretariat, will be headed by former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, as Director-General.

Speaking at the inauguration, the Lagos State Deputy Governor and APC governorship candidate, Obafemi Hamzat, urged party members to campaign for President Bola Tinubu, the party’s governorship candidate and other candidates contesting the 2027 elections.
Hamzat said the party should campaign on the basis of the records and achievements of the Tinubu administration, rather than emotion.

He said, “Our President has done the right things for this country. We should be very proud. We should not be fearful to go and campaign, because the President has stabilised the economy of this country.”

The deputy governor cited what he described as increased agricultural production, urea production, tax reforms, infrastructure development and efforts to tackle terrorism and kidnapping as some of the achievements of the Federal Government.

He also attributed the establishment of the Lekki Free Trade Zone to Tinubu’s tenure as Lagos State governor, saying the project had contributed to increased production and trade.

Hamzat said the administration’s infrastructure projects, including the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, showed its commitment to connecting different parts of the country.

He said, “The comparison between our candidates, and the opposition, is like day and night. There is a big difference. Because they don’t understand what moves a country. But the President understands it.”

On voter mobilisation, Hamzat said the APC could not afford to record low turnout among its supporters in Lagos, given the number of registered voters in the state.

He said, “We have registered 7.3 million people in Lagos. As a member of our party, we cannot be voting only one million. We must do three, four million people, to make sure that we galvanise votes for our President.”

Hamzat also urged party members to campaign for the APC at the presidential, senatorial, House of Representatives, governorship and state House of Assembly levels.

Speaking on Lagos State, he said the state’s contribution to Nigeria’s economy made it too important to be entrusted to inexperienced leadership.

He said Lagos accounted for about 20 per cent of Nigeria’s nominal Gross Domestic Product, adding that the figure could rise to 33 per cent when population and inflation were considered.

He also highlighted the Lagos rail infrastructure, describing it as an achievement that demonstrated the capacity of the state government.

“We as a political party, we have records. We should be proud to campaign to say we are moving the future of our state forward. That is why we are saying Lagos forward together,” Hamzat said.

The Director-General of the APC Campaign Council, Musiliu Obanikoro, charged members of the council to approach the 2027 elections with discipline, sacrifice and commitment.

Obanikoro said the inauguration marked the beginning of a serious assignment for the party in Lagos, stressing that members of the council should not treat their responsibilities as ceremonial.

He said, “The 2027 elections will demand discipline, organisation, sacrifice, and absolute commitment for every one of us. No one should assume that the task ahead will be easy, and no members of this council should consider this our assignment or role as ceremonial.”

He urged members to put personal grievances and differences aside and work towards the collective interest of the party.

“Whatever may have happened in the past, the responsibility before us is bigger than any individual interest. We must work as one team, speak with responsibility, engage the electorate respectfully, and prosecute our campaigns peacefully, lawfully, and professionally,” he said.

Obanikoro further called for effective engagement with communities and urged every committee and member of the campaign council to contribute to the campaign.

“Above all, unity must be our strength,” he said.

Also speaking, the Head of the Governance Advisory Council, Prince Tajudeen Olusi, said the APC was in a favourable position in Lagos ahead of the election, noting that a member of the party currently occupies the presidency.

“There is no party that is as lucky as we are in Lagos State today. We are blessed to have one of us as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” Olusi said.

Olusi said the inauguration of the campaign council marked the beginning of preparations for the election, expressing confidence in Hamzat’s ability to lead Lagos.

“The purpose of being here today is the inauguration of the campaign council, starting from the highest body,” he said.

He added that the party’s activities in Lagos would determine its performance at the election, while urging members to support the governorship candidate and President Tinubu.

He said, “We know that our next governor is competent to handle Lagos properly, and all of us know he serves in various capacities, and with his character, there is no doubt, not only the government will perform, but the party will be settled.”

Olusi said his prayers would be with Hamzat and Tinubu as the party prepares for the 2027 elections.