President Bola Tinubu has warned APC governors, lawmakers and other party leaders that they cannot take credit for electoral victories without completing the assignments entrusted to them, putting the performance of the ruling party’s elected officials under scrutiny ahead of the 2027 general election.
Tinubu, who said he would not attend every campaign rally, maintained that the urgent demands of governing Nigeria would not be suspended for electioneering, insisting that the administration must continue working while the party mobilises for another electoral contest.
The President spoke on Wednesday in Abuja during the inauguration of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, where he charged party leaders to take the APC’s record and agenda to voters across the country.
His warning to party officeholders came with a clear message that previous electoral successes should not be treated as sufficient evidence of performance.
“The responsibility of this office does not pause,” Tinubu said, adding that Nigeria needed his attention more than ever.
Explaining his decision not to tour every campaign ground, the President pointed to the country’s financial obligations and the need to attract investments, arguing that the work of government must continue even as political activities intensify.
“The job must go on,” he said. “We have bills to pay. The American creditors cannot wait. We want those investors to come in, be here to stay, to invest for the future of our children.”
Tinubu said the campaign council would coordinate the party’s mobilisation across states, local government areas and wards, while he would make time to address Nigerians directly without accompanying campaign teams to every location.
He described the inauguration as a renewal of the APC’s commitment to the electorate, saying the party must remain conscious of the responsibilities Nigerians had entrusted to it.
“We have gathered not merely to inaugurate a council. We have gathered to renew a covenant, a covenant with the Nigerian people and the historic responsibility they have thrust to us as Nigeria’s governing party. We promise we will not let them down,” he said.
The President also pledged support for increased representation of women in the National Assembly and state legislatures, while declaring that state police would become a reality.
His remarks place governance delivery, investment attraction and security reform among the issues the ruling party must address as it prepares to seek another mandate.
With the presidential campaign council expected to lead mobilisation nationwide, Tinubu’s challenge to APC leaders raises a central question for the governing party: how will its officeholders demonstrate that they have completed the work for which voters elected them?
