2027: APC defends Tinubu’s Kaduna rally speech, says appearance did the job

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has defended President Bola Tinubu’s speech at its campaign rally in Kaduna, saying his presence at the event was enough to achieve its purpose.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, said Tinubu did not need to deliver an elaborate speech at the rally, arguing that the event was primarily meant to bring party supporters together and acknowledge their support ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

Morka spoke on ARISE News on Tuesday while responding to a question about whether the president’s speech at Saturday’s rally was flat.

He said, “All the president needed to do was to show up and say to the people in Kaduna, ‘Thank you for your hospitality, I appreciate your support, please do so again in 2027.’ If that’s all he said, he did the job.”

He added, “A campaign rally of that kind in Kaduna is not a policy dialogue where speeches should be given. Even if the president came there and danced and said to the people, ‘I appreciate you, thank you so much,’ and left the stage, he had done the job.”

Morka said those who organised the rally were best placed to assess its success, adding that the event was designed to bring together party members, leaders, supporters and other well-wishers to welcome the president.

The APC held the rally in Kaduna on Saturday, October 24, as part of its mobilisation campaign ahead of the 2027 general elections, with the state among those Tinubu is expected to visit.

At the rally, Tinubu criticised opposition figures who had blamed his administration for hunger and poverty in the country.

“I hear my opponents talking about hunger and poverty. Who created it? They did. They created the hunger. They created the poverty we are trying to eradicate,” Tinubu said.

He also defended his administration’s record, saying, “We pay salaries regularly. Our governors are working. I am proud of them. They are developing.”

Tinubu urged supporters to back his bid for a second term, promising “prosperity, continuity, progress and development.”

“To you, the children of our country, it is a promise of second-term prosperity. You will not regret going to vote,” he said.