Mayaki says 2.5 million target is mobilisation goal, not election forecast
BENIN CITY, Nigeria — Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo is set to intensify grassroots mobilisation for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ahead of the 2027 presidential election, with the All Progressives Congress (APC) planning ward-by-ward and polling-unit-level engagement across the state.
Director of Media of the Edo State Campaign Council, John Mayaki, disclosed this while responding to criticism of the governor’s stated target of mobilising 2.5 million votes for Tinubu in Edo.
Okpebholo has repeatedly cited the 2.5 million figure as his target for the 2027 election. In May, he described the target as achievable, while in June he linked the ambition to projects being undertaken by his administration. On September 4, he also urged newly inaugurated chairmen of Edo’s 18 local government areas to work towards the target.
Mayaki said the next phase of the mobilisation would involve several layers of organisation extending from the state and local government levels to wards and polling units.
“There are arrangements for unit-by-unit and ward-by-ward mobilisation. There are several layers of organisation on the ground,” he said.
According to Mayaki, the 2.5 million figure should not be interpreted as a prediction of the eventual election result but as a political mobilisation objective.
“These are political mobilisation targets and not election forecasts,” he said.
“The 2.5 million is not a prediction. It is an aspiration that defines the level of effort required.”
He argued that setting an ambitious target would require the APC to expand its organisational activities, including membership mobilisation, voter registration, Permanent Voter Card collection and efforts to encourage turnout.
Mayaki also said the debate should consider changes in Edo’s voter register.
INEC recorded 2,501,081 registered voters in Edo for the 2023 general election. The figure rose to 2,629,025 following continuous voter registration and transfers ahead of the 2024 governorship election, representing a 4.9 per cent increase.
The final number of registered voters for the 2027 general election will depend on subsequent registration, transfers and other changes approved by INEC.
Mayaki also referred to the July 2026 Edo local government election, in which the APC said it secured 2,158,600 votes across the state. The party subsequently reiterated its 2.5 million target for Tinubu.
He said the local government election and the party’s existing political structures would provide part of the organisational base for the 2027 mobilisation.
Mayaki further argued that Edo’s political configuration had changed since the 2023 presidential election, saying political actors previously associated with former Governor Godwin Obaseki’s political bloc had since moved across different parties or withdrawn from active politics.
“There is no opposition in Edo State in the form people see it,” Mayaki said.
He claimed that about 70 per cent of those previously associated with Obaseki’s political bloc had moved to the APC, while others remained in opposition parties or were no longer politically active.
Mayaki’s assessment is a political claim, however, and the eventual strength of the APC and opposition parties will be determined by voter participation and election results.
He said APC candidates contesting National Assembly and State House of Assembly seats would also contribute to the party’s grassroots mobilisation, working within their respective constituencies alongside the presidential campaign.
Responding to concerns over roads, fuel prices, transportation costs and economic hardship, Mayaki said those issues were legitimate subjects for public debate but argued that some infrastructure challenges predated the current administration.
“The roads did not suddenly collapse on the day Governor Okpebholo assumed office,” he said.
He urged critics to assess what the administration inherited, the projects it has undertaken and the issues that remain unresolved.
On transportation costs, Mayaki said measures being developed by the state government to cushion the impact should ultimately be judged by their effect on residents.
The APC campaign structure is expected to continue its grassroots mobilisation as political parties prepare for the 2027 elections.
Mayaki said the party would pursue the 2.5 million target through an expanded organisational effort, while acknowledging that voters would ultimately determine the outcome at the polls.
“We will organise, mobilise and work at a scale proportionate to that ambition. Ultimately, the voters will decide,” he said.
