2027: Yari sets 1.2m vote target for Tinubu in Ebonyi

…Uzodimma warns ongoing projects may stall if President loses re-election

By Omeiza Ajayi

ABAKALIKI — Director-General of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (APC-PCC), Senator Abdul’aziz Yari, has set a target of 1.2 million votes for President Bola Tinubu in Ebonyi State in the January 16, 2027 presidential election.

Yari announced the target on Monday at the APC presidential campaign rally in the state, saying the figure was based on the number of registered voters and Permanent Voter Cards collected in Ebonyi.

“Your Excellency, sir, on behalf of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, I am setting my target. My target is a minimum of 1.2 million votes,” he said.

He said he arrived at the figure after consulting the Minister of Works, David Umahi, on the state’s voter statistics.

“I asked him how many registered voters Ebonyi State has. He said 1.8 million. I also gathered that the PVC collected figures showed that, at the last count, the state had 1.5 million voters,” Yari said.

He subsequently sought the support of youths and women at the rally to meet the target, citing Tinubu’s appointment of Umahi as Minister of Works as one of the reasons the state should support the President.

Umahi, however, raised the target, pledging that Ebonyi would deliver 1.3 million votes for Tinubu.

“We assure you all that Ebonyi State will give President Tinubu 1.3 million votes come January 16, 2027.

“We are showing the whole world that Ebonyi State belongs to the APC. We all know there is no NDC or any other party in Ebonyi State,” he said.

The minister also cited ongoing federal road projects in the South-East as evidence of the Tinubu administration’s commitment to the region.

He said the road linking Afikpo in Ebonyi State to Uturu in Abia State and Okigwe in Imo State, covering 65 kilometres at a contract sum of ₦193 billion, was 40 per cent complete.

According to him, the project would not have received attention without Tinubu’s intervention.

Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, urged the people of Ebonyi to secure their Permanent Voter Cards and vote for the APC, warning that ongoing projects could be affected if Tinubu failed to secure re-election.

“Our responsibility will start from now to go and look for our PVC. That is the weapon, because if Bola Tinubu is not re-elected, all these ongoing projects will stop.

“There is no name on the ballot paper called President Bola Tinubu. What is on the ballot paper is APC, and I invite all of you to vote for APC,” he said.

The Director of Mobilisation of the campaign council, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, used his address to criticise former Rivers State Governor and African Democratic Congress (ADC) vice-presidential candidate, Rotimi Amaechi.

Oshiomhole described Amaechi as a “serial loser” and questioned his credibility, citing his reported court challenge to the emergence of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate of the party in an earlier election.

“Amaechi has been a serial loser. I think it is worth repeating that Amaechi went to court to accuse Atiku Abubakar. I repeat, he went to court to challenge Atiku Abubakar, alleging that he did not win the nomination and that the process was rigged. So, if Amaechi accuses his former boss of rigging, are you the ones who will disagree with him?” he asked.

Ebonyi State Governor, Francis Nwifuru, said the state’s support for Tinubu was based on what he described as evidence, conviction and gratitude rather than sentiments.

“It is rooted in evidence, conviction and gratitude,” he said.

Nwifuru also appealed to the President to address the state’s electricity transmission challenges, saying Ebonyi was the only state in the country without a 330kV transmission line.

“Mr President may wish to recall that Ebonyi is the only state in the country today without a 330kV transmission line. This has adversely affected our drive to industrialise this great state of ours.

“Your Excellency, we kindly request that you consider making funds available for us to embark on the project or take over its installation,” he said.

Representing the APC National Chairman, the party’s National Vice-Chairman, South-East, Ben Nwoye, urged party members to vote for the APC at all levels in the 2027 elections.

“On January 16, APC from top to bottom. On February 6, APC from top to bottom. In the end, we say APC five by five,” he said.