Ndume to Tinubu: Don’t chair your own 2027 campaign

Borno South Senator, Ali Ndume, has adviced President Bola Tinubu to relinquish the chairmanship of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council ahead of the 2027 election, arguing that the responsibility should rest with the party structure.

Ndume made the call during an interview on ARISE Television’s Prime Time, where he questioned why the President should personally head the campaign machinery seeking his re-election.

According to the senator, Tinubu is the APC’s candidate and should be treated as the political “product” being presented to Nigerians, rather than the person directing the entire campaign operation.

“If I had the ear of Mr President, he does not need to be the Presidential Campaign Council chairman. What is the party doing?” Ndume said.

Tinubu had last week constituted the APC Presidential Campaign Council and named himself chairman as preparations intensify for the 2027 general elections.

Ndume, however, argued that the party’s national leadership and governors should take greater responsibility for driving the campaign.

He proposed that APC governors should head the presidential campaign in their respective states, with a central team coordinating activities nationwide.

“The governors of every state should head the presidential campaign in their respective states, and there should be a coordinating team to coordinate them,” he said.

The senator’s intervention adds to growing debate over the structure of the APC campaign council and the roles assigned to senior government and party officials ahead of the election.

Ndume has in recent days also raised concerns about the quality of advice available to the President, while maintaining that Tinubu’s political team must be properly organised if the APC is to mount an effective campaign in 2027.