2027: Tinubu will win more votes in South-East – Nwaze

By Jeff Agbodo, Abakaliki A Senior Special Assistant on Media to the Minister of Works, Francis Nwaze, has expressed confidence that President Bola Tinubu will secure more votes in the South-East in the 2027 general elections, citing the administration’s infrastructure projects and engagement with grassroots communities. Nwaze, who is also the South-East Zonal Coordinator of the New Media Directorate of the APC 2027 Presidential Campaign Council, said the president had demonstrated commitment to the region through appointments and development projects.

He spoke while interacting with journalists in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State. According to him, the Tinubu administration has empowered young people through political appointments, including the appointment of a young person as chairman of the South-East Development Commission. On the APC’s strategy to secure more votes in the region, Nwaze said the campaign council was taking the administration’s achievements directly to grassroots communities.

“We are in touch with the grassroots, and people are obviously celebrating the coming of Mr President since 2023. A whole lot of things have happened and the transformation is visible. “People are appreciating it, especially as regards the appointment of our brother and my boss, the Honourable Minister of Works, who is causing a whole lot of transformation through the support of Mr President,” he said.

Nwaze listed the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway among the major infrastructure projects completed by the administration, adding that several other projects had either been completed or were ongoing across the South-East. He said the improved condition of the expressway, including the installation of streetlights and concrete pavement, had made it safer and more accessible to motorists, even at night.

He added that the campaign council was highlighting the administration’s infrastructure interventions through the Minister of Works and other ministries, departments and agencies to convince voters to support Tinubu’s re-election bid. “We are letting them know that Mr President has done a whole lot of things that should deserve his return, that we should overwhelmingly say that it is time for him to go back again.

“Very importantly, when he goes, he is going to continue to carry the people of the South-East along because he has shown it by what he has done in his first term,” he said. The APC campaign official also cited the ongoing construction of the Ndibe Beach Bridge in Ebonyi State, which he said was nearly 50 per cent complete. According to him, the bridge, when completed, will improve connectivity between parts of the South-East and Calabar, Cross River State, opening up additional routes for movement and economic activities.

He said residents and traditional leaders in some communities had expressed appreciation for the projects, noting that some had described the ongoing interventions as developments they had not expected to see. Nwaze maintained that the campaign’s message was based on what he described as visible achievements rather than political promises. He also attributed the reduction in the price of food commodities to changes under the Tinubu administration, claiming that a 50kg bag of rice could now be purchased for as low as N50,000.

Expressing confidence in the president’s re-election prospects, he said conversations with grassroots residents indicated growing support for Tinubu in the region. “These are evidence-based. We are not talking of hearsay or promises that can be made without fulfilment. “So, his second coming is going to be for prosperity and for the betterment of the people of the South-East, vis-à-vis Nigeria in general,” Nwaze said.