2027: Tinubu’s re-election a done deal – North Central agenda

…Tinubu’s reforms for long-term prosperity – SGF

By Jude Opara

Ahead of the 2027 general elections, a political and advocacy pressure group in North Central, North Central Agenda (NCA) has declared its unconditional support for President Bola Tinubu, describing his victory in the region as a “done deal.”

This is as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, stated that the administration is laying a solid foundation for Nigeria’s long-term prosperity through critical reforms and infrastructural development.

In his remarks at a one-day conference on North-Central region’s development, under the Renewed Hope Agenda, the Convener of the NCA, Dr. Ene Lilian Ogbole, said President Tinubu’s policy has brought visible transformation to a zone that has faced socio-economic neglect.

The conference had in attendance delegates from all the six states of the North Central and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Dr. Ogbole said before the current administration, North Central Nigeria had been suffering a huge infrastructural deficit with the resultant security crisis.

She said; “However, since assuming office on the 29th of May, 2023, President Tinubu has demonstrated courage in making difficult decisions aimed at securing the region’s long-term all-round prosperity. “For the people of the North Central region, these efforts have brought renewed hope and visible progress.”

The NCA boss enumerated extensive investments covering agriculture, security, education, and road transport infrastructure across the region.

According to Ogbole some of the landmark roads and superhighway projects include: the Calabar–Ebonyi–Benue–Kogi–Nasarawa–Abuja Super Highway; Sokoto–Badagry Super Highway (Niger and Kwara sections); Akwanga–Jos–Bauchi–Gombe–Maiduguri Highway; Suleja–Minna Dual Carriageway and the Lokoja–Okene Dualisation and Makurdi–Aliade–Otukpo Road.

She equally praised the administration’s interventions in education, argued that expanded investments through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and stipend support for students through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).

On agriculture and security which are critical to the nation’s primary food basket, the group argued that intensified military operations against banditry and kidnapping have enabled farmers to return to their farms.

Ogbole also hailed the administration for its deliberate spread of capital projects across the country, saying it has fundamentally halted the region’s political neglect.

“The fair and judicious spread of capital projects to all the geopolitical zones by the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has changed the narratives from negative to positive, from neglect to recognition… and now to socio-economic structural and infrastructural transformation of the entire North Central zone,” she remarked.

She committed the organization to an aggressive voter mobilization campaign across every state in the region to guarantee the President’s re-election.

“Consequently, we are pledging to mobilise massively like never before across the entire North Central states to support the reelection of the President that has brought us from doom to the dawn of a new era.

“For us as the mouthpiece of the North Central people, this reelection is a done deal as we will stop at nothing within the confines of the law to ensure that his victory is secured.”

In his goodwill message, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, who was represented by his Senior Assistant, Technical, Prof. Babatunde Bolaji Benard said his confidence in President Tinubu dated back many years, adding that the President has placed Nigeria firmly on the path of recovery through bold and sometimes difficult policy decisions.

He likened the country’s current economic reforms to cooking beans, noting that while the process takes time and patience, the end result is worthwhile.

“The President is a trailblazer. He is taking decisions that may not produce instant results, but they are the kind of reforms that will secure Nigeria’s future,” he said.

On the Calabar to Abuja highway corridor, Akume said the route had been conceived as far back as 1958 but had remained largely unrealised until the current administration.

“How do you develop a country without critical infrastructure?” he asked. “What President Tinubu is doing today is laying the foundation for economic growth.”

He further highlighted the Sokoto to Badagry Super Highway project, noting that it incorporates 32 dams that would significantly boost agriculture, irrigation, water supply and economic activities along the corridor.

“Think about what we can do with those dams. They are not just roads; they are economic assets that will transform communities and create wealth,” he said.