President Bola Tinubu has made the fight against poverty a central argument for his re-election bid, telling supporters in Rivers State that their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) would determine whether his economic policies continue beyond the 2027 general elections.
Addressing a crowd at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in Port Harcourt on Saturday, November 7, the President presented voting as the means through which Nigerians could influence the country’s economic direction. He asked eligible voters who had yet to collect their PVCs to do so ahead of the polls.
“It is left for you to use the weapon you have, and that weapon is the PVC. If you have not collected yours, please go ahead and collect it. Please, I beg you, I take God beg. The weapon you have against poverty is to elect progressive development of our economy. That is what I am pursuing,” Tinubu said.
His message placed the administration’s economic programme at the centre of the Rivers campaign. Rather than presenting poverty reduction as a government responsibility alone, Tinubu linked its future to the choices voters would make at the ballot box.
However, the appeal also raises a question that will shape the 2027 campaign: how will Nigerians measure the economic progress the President says he is pursuing?
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The PVC gives registered voters the power to choose their leaders, but the card itself cannot reduce food prices, create jobs or improve household incomes. Those outcomes depend on policies, implementation and the extent to which economic gains reach ordinary citizens.
Tinubu also directed his message at young Nigerians, telling them that the next election would have lasting consequences for their prospects.
“To the youths of Nigeria, I am looking at you. This election is about you, it’s not on me. Your future depends on this election. This progress has no reverse gear,” he said.
The President’s comments came during an APC rally attended by Vice-President Kashim Shettima, FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara and Senate President Godswill Akpabio, alongside other party leaders and supporters from the South-South.
The Port Harcourt gathering followed Tinubu’s appearance at an APC rally in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, on Friday. Governor Umo Eno pledged two million votes for the President ahead of the 2027 election.
Tinubu also approved Eno’s request for the establishment of the Ibom Deep Sea Port, which he described as a major development opportunity for the state and the South-South region.
The back-to-back rallies form part of the APC’s early mobilisation ahead of the next presidential contest. In Rivers, Tinubu’s appeal went beyond party loyalty, placing economic performance and the future of younger voters at the heart of his campaign message.
The eventual test, however, will not be the number of PVCs collected or the size of rally crowds, but whether Nigerians believe the administration’s economic direction has improved their lives enough to earn another mandate.
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