Tinubu exempts self from nationwide campaign rallies

President Bola Tinubu has formally announced that he will not actively participate in all regional and local campaign rallies ahead of the 2027 presidential elections.

The president stated that pressing national responsibilities, particularly the need to stabilise the economy and attract long-term investments, must take absolute precedence over political electioneering.

Speaking on Wednesday during the inauguration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council at the State House Banquet Hall in Abuja, Tinubu directed the Senator Abdulaziz Yari-led committee to spearhead grassroots mobilisation on his behalf. While Vice President Kashim Shettima is expected to represent the president across most state rallies, while Tinubu will personally attend the national flag-off in Kaduna and the grand finale in Lagos.

Addressing the campaign council, President Tinubu promised to boost the confidence of investors and meet federal financial obligations over the next three months.

“You have warned me and asked me not to allow the rigour of the campaign to distract me from governance. I hear you. I am in full agreement with your decision. Nigeria needs more attention now than ever before. The responsibility of this office does not pause,” the president stated.

The development has elicited reactions from Former Vice President and candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, who condemned the decision to inaugurate the partisan campaign council inside the Presidential Villa.

Atiku described the expanded campaign list as the portrayal of electoral fear, insisting that the deployment of state resources and political defectors cannot erase the current economic hardship faced by Nigerians.