…unveils 26 campaign vehicles
*Ondo APC structures ready to deliver for Tinubu, says Aiyedatiwa
By Fisayo Akinduro & Precious Oluwole
The PBAT Door-to-Door Movement on Tuesday inaugurated its Ondo State chapter and unveiled 26 campaign vehicles for grassroots mobilisation across the state’s 26 constituencies ahead of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027.
This is just as Ondo State Governor, Hon. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, endorsed Tinubu’s re-election, describing him as a phenomenon and commending his economic reforms, infrastructure projects and student loan scheme.
Aiyedatiwa spoke during the delegation’s visits to the Government House, Oba’s Council Secretariat and Democracy Park.
The delegation was led by Chief Kestin Ebimorbowei Pondi, who represented the movement’s convener and Director-General, High Chief Government Ekpemupolo.
The governor commended the movement for extending its mobilisation from Delta State, the convener’s home state, to all 36 states of the federation. He said its grassroots approach would tackle voter apathy by familiarising Nigerians with Tinubu and his party before election day.
“As someone who is also a grassroots politician, door-to-door campaigning has a way of making people aware of what is happening, and on election day, they will come out because the name of Mr President will not be new to them,” he said.
Aiyedatiwa endorsed the movement’s commendation of Tinubu, citing his courage, economic reforms and infrastructure projects, including the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and the Badagry-Sokoto Highway.
He also praised the student loan scheme, saying it would widen access to university education and promote human capital development.
“When a nation is fully educated, you have delivered that nation from poverty and ignorance,” he said.
The governor attributed his administration’s capacity to execute infrastructure projects partly to the Federal Government’s economic reforms, particularly fuel subsidy removal, which he said had increased the funds available to states for development.
He stressed that Nigeria’s development must extend beyond Abuja to all 36 states, adding that Ondo had embraced all support groups working for Tinubu’s re-election.
Aiyedatiwa, however, said the state government had its own mobilisation machinery, comprising party structures, local government and Local Council Development Area structures, transport workers and artisans, to complement the movement’s efforts.
He commended the group for providing 26 buses for the state’s 26 constituencies, saying the gesture would facilitate grassroots mobilisation, and assured its coordinators of the government’s support.
The governor also highlighted Tinubu’s record of political alliances, recalling that the APC emerged from a coalition involving the Action Congress of Nigeria, Congress for Progressive Change, All Nigeria Peoples Party and a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party known as the New PDP.
He said the president’s ability to build alliances remained significant, noting that different political parties and support groups were now backing his re-election.
Aiyedatiwa said the government was not a support group but a machinery with firmly established party structures extending from the state to local governments.
He said the structure comprised local government officials, state and local government employees, as well as traditional institutions, and was spread across the nooks and crannies of the state.
The governor said the government was open to all support groups willing to join the campaign for Tinubu and other APC candidates contesting for seats in the Senate, House of Representatives and state House of Assembly.
He assured the groups of an enabling environment to campaign across the state, including adequate security.
In his welcome address, Pondi, Managing Director of Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, said the 26 vehicles would take the campaign to homes, churches, mosques, markets and creeks across the state.
He said the movement aimed to educate residents on why they should vote for Tinubu on January 16, 2027, and challenged members to secure more than two million votes for the president in Ondo.
Speaking on behalf of Tompolo, Pondi described Tinubu as a courageous leader willing to take difficult policy decisions despite their political consequences.
Citing an analysis he conducted on refineries in 2023, he said subsidy removal and market liberalisation were necessary to attract investment into the refining sector.
He argued that a controlled market would discourage investors, regardless of the number of licences issued.
“It is not going to be a smooth ride if you want to restructure. It is not going to be a smooth ride if you want to do things the right way. We need to feel the pain a little and then we will continue,” he said.
On security, Pondi said moves by state assemblies to pass bills on state police demonstrated the president’s commitment to citizens’ safety.
He cited the payment of salaries and pensions, student loans, projects being executed by governors, the disappearance of fuel queues and the absence of strikes by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) as evidence of the administration’s performance.
He urged members to sustain grassroots mobilisation and serve as Tinubu’s ambassadors by taking his message to their communities.
“We must not just come here, dance and go back home. When we go back home, we should go with a message. We should become the ambassadors of Tinubu and preach his message,” he said.
Pondi also urged traditional rulers to publicise Tinubu’s achievements in their communities.
In his remarks, the state APC Chairman, Hon. Kolawole Babatunde, said the party had structures on the ground to deliver massive votes for Tinubu.
He urged party faithful to mobilise support and intensify campaigns for the president ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Also speaking, the movement’s National Coordinator, Comrade Sunday Asuko, described Tinubu as the best option for Nigeria and urged Nigerians to re-elect him in January 2027.
He advised voters to demand records of achievement from opposition politicians seeking to replace the current leadership.
Asuko said Tinubu’s emergence in 2023 had improved state governments’ capacity to pay salaries and execute projects, claiming that governors who previously struggled to pay salaries and pensions now had funds for development.
He urged students to support Tinubu, describing the current experience as unprecedented in Nigeria’s democratic history.
He also called on Nigerians to vote for all APC candidates in the 2027 elections, from top to bottom.
Earlier at the Council of Obas secretariat, the Olowo of Owo, Oba Ajibade Gbadegesin Ogunoye, speaking on behalf of traditional rulers, assured Tinubu of Ondo State’s support, saying the president was their son and deserved their backing.
He commended Aiyedatiwa’s administration for its efforts to improve public welfare and described fuel subsidy removal as a necessary and positive reform that had made more resources available to state governments for development without depending on the Federal Government.
Those in attendance included the Deputy Governor, Dr. Olayide Adelami; Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Olamide Oladiji; Secretary to the State Government, Dr Taiwo Fasoranti; Chief of Staff, Prince Segun Omojuwa; members of the Ondo State House of Assembly; Director-General of the 2027 Presidential Election Campaign Council in Ondo State, Rt. Hon. Victor Olabimtan, and Director-General of OSRC Media Group, Mr Kenneth Odusola-Stevenson.