Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State has set a target of one million votes for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in next year’s presidential election in the state.
Governor Aiyedatiwa said President Tinubu has the political capacity to become the first Nigerian presidential candidate to win in all 36 states of the federation during the 2027 general elections.
Speaking during the flag off of Southwest Agenda For Asiwaju (SWAGA) 2.0 in Akure, the state capital, Aiyedatiwa said the president’s performance in office in the last three years has eliminated any viable political alternatives.
The governor, who emphasised that Tinubu inherited a country on the verge of systemic collapse, argued that the progress made under the present administration would simplify the mobilisation efforts of support groups like SWAGA.
While welcoming the launch of SWAGA 2.0 in the state as a timely initiative, Aiyedatiwa stressed that machinery has been put in place to ensure that Tinubu receives one million votes in the state.
Aiyedatiwa said in the last election, he scored almost 400,000 votes while his closest challenger, Hon Agboola Ajayi, scored close to 200,000 votes. He said with the defection of his challenger to the All Progressives Congress (APC), the state has the capacity to return one million votes for President Tinubu.
His words: “The economy was at the brink of collapse when Tinubu came on board. It had collapsed at the time when rural oil was being used to borrow money, and then they were printing Naira.
“So the work will be easier now for SWAGA. Especially with all that we have seen in the political space in Nigeria. The whole nation has seen the quality of the president that we have, and we have seen that there is no alternative now. That is why everybody has decided to join the party of the president. So he is the leader of our party.
“I have won an entire 18 local governments in Ondo State, so the president may also win that. We work for it. We pray towards that. And the Lord will keep him and grant him strength. For me, SWAGA is not new to me.”
The National Chairman of SWAGA, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, who is also the Chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), stated that the country was living on borrowed time under the previous administration.
Adeyeye said that even former President Muhammadu Buhari had declared he could not continue subsidy payments, stating that the Dangote refinery would not function under a rigidly regulated system and that most businesses would have collapsed without the president’s reforms.
