By Deji Abdulwahab
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has urged members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to shun violence, fighting and other forms of political hostility.
Idris gave the advice on Saturday while speaking with newsmen at a political rally organised by the APC North Central Grassroots Mobilisation Movement in Lafia, Nasarawa State.
The minister also urged party members to embrace peaceful and issues-based campaigns ahead of the 2027 general elections.
According to him, party members and political supporters should maintain peace, focus on communicating their policies and achievements to Nigerians, and avoid actions capable of undermining the democratic process.
“The message we have is that everybody should be calm, campaign based on issues, no violence, no fighting,” the minister said.
According to him, political campaigns should provide opportunities for parties to present their programmes, explain their achievements and convince voters through constructive engagement rather than confrontation.
“If you have something to sell, you don’t need to fight,” Idris said, expressing confidence in the APC’s ability to convince Nigerians through its policies and the achievements of the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
He said the rally was organised to demonstrate the party’s readiness to mobilise support for Tinubu’s re-election bid and communicate its vision for the country’s development.
“We have something to sell in Nigeria, and that’s why we are holding this rally to show Nigeria that our candidate is the best, our party is the best,” he said.
Idris expressed confidence that the Tinubu administration would fulfil its commitments to Nigerians, adding that the government intended to build on its achievements to deliver more benefits to the people.
“We are going to deliver on all the promises that we have made. Already President Bola Tinubu has delivered on those promises. We want to do more in the interest of our region, in the interest of our country,” he said.
The minister also predicted that Tinubu would secure 85 per cent of the votes in the North-Central geopolitical zone in the 2027 presidential election, attributing the projection to what he described as the collective resolve of political leaders in the region.
“All of us are here, President Bola Tinubu is going to get 85 per cent of the vote of the North Central.
“The other ones will leave the 15 per cent for them to share among themselves, but 85 per cent of those votes will come to President Bola Tinubu by God’s grace,” Idris said.
He explained that the decision to support the president was reached collectively by governors, ministers and other political leaders from the North-Central region.
“We make collective decision by all the governors, the ministers, all the political leaders of the North-Central. We are going to vote for President Bola Tinubu,” he said.
Idris added that the leaders believed Tinubu’s administration offered the region an opportunity to benefit further from government policies and development programmes.
“We believe that we have an opportunity to get more dividends of democracy under his visionary leadership,” he said.
He maintained that the decision to support the president was voluntary, expressing satisfaction with the level of unity and enthusiasm demonstrated by the political leaders and supporters who attended the rally.
Also speaking, the Minister of State for Agriculture, Dr Aliyu Sabi, said the rally was part of sustained grassroots mobilisation efforts aimed at securing support for the APC and its candidate ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“Mobilisation is actually what brought us here. Our people are fully mobilised and will continue to do the mobilisation until the D-day when our votes will speak,” Sabi said.
He urged party supporters to remain committed to peaceful political engagement and grassroots mobilisation, as the APC continued its efforts to strengthen its support base ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The minister said the Tinubu administration had demonstrated commitment to addressing food security challenges, noting that the president had consistently prioritised the issue in spite of prevailing economic difficulties.
Sabi added that government interventions had contributed to greater stability in the country’s food system, although he acknowledged that more work was required to address existing challenges and improve food availability.
He said the transformation of roads across the country was expected to facilitate the movement of agricultural produce, reduce transportation costs and improve access to food for Nigerians.
“And our roads are being transformed so that food can be moved at very reduced prices for citizens,” he said. (NAN)
Edited by Abdulfatai Beki/Funmilayo Adeyemi
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