By Kazeem Waris
President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has predicted sweeping electoral victory for President Bola Tinubu and all candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) across the South-South geopolitical zone in the 2027 general elections, declaring that political peace and unity in Rivers State have created favourable conditions for the party.
Akpabio made the prediction on Saturday at the Rivers State Rainbow Coalition rally held at the main bowl of the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt, where he attributed the APC’s anticipated electoral success to what he described as growing unity among political stakeholders in the region.
Addressing Tinubu at the rally, the Senate President declared that Rivers State had the political atmosphere needed to deliver the President for another term.
“Mr President, the ingredient needed in this zone, particularly Rivers State, to return you to the Villa is here, and that is peace.
“There is total peace in Rivers State, and it is based on that peace and unity among all stakeholders and political leaders that Mr President would be delivered,” Akpabio said.
He recalled that Rivers was the only state in the South-South geopolitical zone won by the APC in the 2023 presidential election, describing the result as evidence of the party’s electoral prospects in the state.
“In 2023, this was one state that you won resoundingly. It was not a question of 25 per cent. In the whole of the South-South, it was in Rivers State that President Bola Tinubu won resoundingly,” he said.
Akpabio also urged Rivers residents to support Tinubu’s re-election bid, citing the appointment of former Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as evidence of the President’s recognition of the state’s contribution to national development.
He praised Wike’s performance in Abuja, arguing that his appointment to a strategic federal ministry demonstrated Tinubu’s confidence in the former governor.
“President Tinubu loves Rivers people, and that is why he handed a very strategic ministry, the FCT, to your son, and he has not disappointed us.
“I want to thank you for producing Nyesom Wike, who is doing wonders in the FCT. We have never seen such a level of development before. Mr President is a man who knows how to put square pegs in square holes,” the Senate President said.
Beyond political appointments, Akpabio highlighted the Federal Government’s student loan programme, economic reforms, tax restructuring and coastal highway project as reasons Nigerians should support the administration.
He claimed that more than 100,000 students from Rivers State had benefited from the student loan scheme and other educational support programmes targeting indigent students and families with limited financial resources.
Turning to the economy, Akpabio defended Tinubu’s economic policies, including the removal of fuel subsidy and the introduction of tax reforms, arguing that the measures were intended to improve government revenue and tackle corruption.
He also credited the administration with strengthening Nigeria’s foreign reserves, claiming that the country’s reserves had risen from $4.5 billion to more than $50 billion under Tinubu.
On tax reforms, he said the President had addressed longstanding weaknesses in the country’s taxation system by consolidating existing laws and introducing a more unified framework.
“We had taxes in Nigeria that were codified as far back as 1939. You came and unified the tax system, and today Nigeria is getting more money from taxation than from crude oil,” Akpabio told the President.
He further pointed to the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, which passes through Rivers State, as a major infrastructure investment expected to stimulate commercial activities and economic opportunities along the coastline.
According to him, the removal of the petrol subsidy was necessary to curb corruption, while the tax reforms were designed to expand government revenue.
Akpabio urged residents of the South-South to sustain their support for the Tinubu administration, insisting that the government’s policies were intended to improve the welfare of ordinary Nigerians.
“We will continue to campaign despite the fact that we are a very popular party and the government of the day,” he declared.
The Senate President expressed optimism that the political rallies held in Akwa Ibom and Rivers states would translate into electoral support for the APC, praying that the gatherings would not be in vain.
He predicted that Tinubu and APC candidates would celebrate victory in the 2027 elections.
