Fashola urges grassroots mobilisation ahead of 2027 polls

By Olasunkanmi Akoni Former Lagos State Governor and Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola, has urged All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders in the South-West to strengthen grassroots mobilisation and engage stakeholders across party lines to secure victory in the 2027 general elections. Fashola made the call on Tuesday at a strategic meeting of South-West political stakeholders held in Ikeja, Lagos.

The meeting was attended by Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, his deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, APC State Chairman, Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi, and other party leaders and zonal coordinators. Fashola outlined a strategy for unifying party structures and increasing voter turnout ahead of the elections. He urged participants from the six states in the zone to establish structured stakeholder engagement forums at three levels: state, local government and ward.

Emphasising the need for inclusive engagement, he said stakeholders should not be limited to APC members but should include individuals and groups capable of influencing electoral outcomes across party lines. “A stakeholder is anyone who can impact election outcomes, spanning party lines, opposing caucuses, artisans and union members,” he said. Fashola, who is working with former Ondo State Governor Segun Mimiko, former Ekiti State Governor Segun Oni and Secretary Senator Fatai Buhari on the Presidential Campaign Council’s South-West strategy, said he would visit each state after the initial engagement forums had been established.

He said the visits would provide opportunities to address local political concerns, respect the peculiarities of each state and escalate issues requiring national intervention. Describing politics as local, Fashola urged party leaders to reach out to newly registered voters and re-engage those who had become apathetic towards the electoral process.

He also called on them to recognise the significance of the country’s North-South political rotation and take advantage of the prevailing political moment to strengthen the party’s electoral prospects. The meeting later went into a closed-door session, with a communiqué expected at the end of the deliberations for release to the media.