EXTRA: Umar Bago declares self Tinubu’s campaign DG for 2027

Umar Bago, governor of Niger state, has proclaimed himself the director-general of President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election campaign.

Speaking at the All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders meeting on Monday in Minna, the Niger state capital, Bago declared the state as the headquarters for the president’s re-election bid.

“I am now the self-imposed director-general of Tinubu campaign for 2027,” he said.

“Niger state is the campaign headquarters for Asiwaju 2027.”

Bago criticised politicians opposed to the south retaining the presidency in 2027, urging them to respect the country’s unwritten principle of power rotation.

“We are Nigerians, and we love Nigeria. There is an unwritten understanding in this country for power to evolve from the north and to the south and from the south to the north,” he said.

“This has brought relative peace to this country. In the last two years plus, we just finished the eight-year tenure of late President Muhammadu Buhari [may Allah forgive his soul] and Asiwaju is just in his second year.”

Bago criticised “disgruntled” party members who have either defected or withdrawn their support for the APC, labelling them ungrateful.

He said the president should not be blamed for the country’s precarious state, adding that the challenges were inherited with steps being taken to fix them.

“Why are people from this part of the country trying to bring issues? Especially the children of the APC? You have eaten from APC. APC is what you are. Some of you were governors, ministers, advisers, and commissioners, and you dwelt for eight years,” he said.

“Now, you are on sabbatical and have decided to come together to distort a government.

“Because we are one party, we decided to keep things low. You talked about bad roads. Asiwaju did not make the bad roads; he inherited them and is fixing them.

“Asiwaju did not spoil your schools; he inherited them. He is trying to fix them, likewise bad roads. And you want to use that to campaign against us? You are shameless.

“Asiwaju did not spoil your hospitals; he inherited them. What we expect from you as a thank you is loyalty and gratitude that there was a transition from APC to APC, not what you are doing.

“We know the perpetrators of the cracks in the [nation’s] economy. I know exactly what I inherited, but I have not spoken to or probed anybody or asked anybody to refund. Please, let the sleeping dog lie.

“Asiwaju or Bago did not cause this insecurity, but right now, the people of your constituency can sleep with their eyes closed because we are working.”

Bago said some LGAs in the state, once deserted due to terrorist attacks, are now brimming with residents.

Early this month, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) warned political parties and politicians against “premature campaigns” before the 2027 general election.

The electoral umpire said while citizens have the right to engage in political discussions, open campaigning or vote canvassing at this stage is “not only inappropriate but a violation of the Electoral Act”.