The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has stepped up its grassroots mobilisation ahead of the 2027 general elections, setting a target of five million votes as it prepares for a closely contested presidential race in the state.
The party’s strategy, known as “Operation Man Your Polling Booth”, is designed to strengthen its presence at polling-unit level and ensure that party members are directly involved in mobilising voters across Lagos.
Lagos APC Chairman Cornelius Ojelabi unveiled the strategy during the inauguration of the Tinubu-Hamzat 2027 Campaign Council at the party secretariat in Ikeja.
He said the party would deploy its structures across senatorial districts, local government areas, wards and polling booths, with clear responsibilities for members and campaign officials.
“Our emphasis this time will be more on ‘operation man your polling booth’. We are aware we have a total of 13,565 polling booths,” Ojelabi said. “Our people need to get involved locally and mobilise to get voters to deliver.”
“Our target is to get five million votes out of the projected seven million votes in Lagos state, and we will rely on coordinated grassroots mobilisation to achieve the objective,” he added.
The strategy comes as the APC prepares to defend its position in Lagos against opposition presidential contenders, including former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and former Anambra State governor Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).
The party’s renewed focus on polling units is also shaped by the outcome of the 2023 presidential election in Lagos, where Obi, then the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, defeated Tinubu, who contested on the APC platform.
The 2023 result was particularly significant because Tinubu had previously served as governor of Lagos from 1999 to 2007 and maintained a strong political base in the state. INEC’s official 2023 general election report records Lagos as having 6,570,291 registered voters and 7,060,195 collected permanent voter cards, with 13,325 polling units reported for that election.
Obi secured 582,454 votes in the presidential election in Lagos, narrowly ahead of Tinubu, who received 572,606 votes. Atiku, who contested under the Peoples Democratic Party, polled 75,750 votes.
The result showed the ability of an opposition candidate to challenge the APC in a state that has traditionally been central to the party’s political structure. Although the APC won more local government areas in the presidential election, Obi recorded the highest overall presidential vote total in the state.
The Lagos APC is now seeking to prevent a repeat of that outcome by placing greater emphasis on organisation, voter mobilisation and activity at polling-unit level.
Ojelabi said the party’s approach would be decentralised, with APC leaders and members expected to take responsibility for their respective areas. The objective, according to the party chairman, is to create a chain of mobilisation extending from the state leadership down to individual polling booths.
The campaign council has also been urged to base its engagement with voters on the records of the APC administrations at the federal and state levels.
Lagos Deputy Governor and APC governorship candidate Obafemi Hamzat said the party should avoid relying on emotions during the campaign and instead explain its record to voters using verifiable information.
“It is not about emotion. It is about data. It’s about records. We must be able to tell our people what we have done, what we are doing and what we intend to do,” Hamzat said.
Hamzat urged party members to present what he described as the achievements of the Tinubu and Babajide Sanwo-Olu administrations, including their policies and projects in areas such as taxation, infrastructure, agriculture and security.
The campaign council, headed by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has been given the task of coordinating the party’s activities as the 2027 election approaches. Hamzat serves as deputy chairman, while former Senator Musiliu Obanikoro is the director-general of the campaign council.
Obanikoro has also called on members of the campaign council to work together and put aside personal differences as the party prepares for the election.
“We must work as one, speak with respect, engage in a coordinated manner and proceed as one,” he said.
“The coming elections will shape our future political opportunities and responsibilities. That should remind us of the seriousness of the assignment and the need to give our very best,” Obanikoro added.
