Bago Targets 2 Million Votes for Tinubu in Niger

Niger State Governor, Umaru Bago, has set a target of two million votes for President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general election, declaring that the All Progressives Congress (APC) would intensify grassroots mobilisation across the state.

Bago announced the target on Monday while inaugurating a 525-member APC presidential and gubernatorial campaign council at the Government House in Minna.

He described the council as the largest campaign structure assembled in the state since 1999, expressing confidence that coordinated mobilisation would deliver the party’s electoral objectives.

“If everybody would bring their own votes, it would give us more than one million votes. But our target is beyond that,” the governor said.

“The ambition this time around is to bring out over two million votes, and by the grace of God we will do that.”

The council is headed by former Niger State Deputy Governor, Ahmed Ibeto, who served under a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration.

Its membership includes state executive council members, local government chairmen, councillors, federal and state lawmakers, ministers, directors-general and political coordinators.

Bago said the campaign structure would extend from party units and wards to local governments and the state level, bringing political appointees and grassroots organisers into the mobilisation effort.

He also urged APC members to welcome politicians returning to the party, recalling that the ruling party emerged from a coalition of political groups that united to defeat the opposition.

The governor called on the media to provide constructive coverage of the campaign, cautioning politicians against inflammatory rhetoric capable of heightening tensions or threatening security.

He said the APC would focus its campaign on the Federal Government’s economic policies, improved revenue generation and job creation.

Bago also highlighted infrastructure development and security improvements in Niger State, including better roads and freer movement of goods in some areas, as achievements the party intended to present to voters.

He announced that the APC’s North Central presidential campaign office in Minna would be commissioned the following week, with President Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima and other senior party leaders expected to attend.

The Minister of Information, Idris Malagi, praised the composition of the campaign council, saying the APC would seek re-election on the strength of what he described as the administration’s efforts to transform the Nigerian economy over the past three and a half years.

Malagi urged council members to prioritise the collective interest of Niger State and maintain unity within the party.

Similarly, APC North Central Chairman, Muazu Bawa Rijau, charged members not to underestimate their political opponents ahead of the elections.

He said the party was determined to secure Tinubu’s re-election alongside victories for Bago, its senators, members of the House of Representatives and state assembly candidates.

Accepting the appointment on behalf of the council, Ibeto pledged effective coordination, grassroots engagement, discipline and compliance with electoral guidelines.

He said the council would establish operational structures across directorates, local governments, wards and polling-unit levels, combining the experience of established party members with fresh ideas.

The two-million-vote target places grassroots mobilisation at the centre of the APC’s strategy in Niger State ahead of the 2027 elections.