President Tinubu to Close Out Campaign With Mega Rally in Lagos on January 9, 2027

The APC Presidential Campaign Council has published its state-by-state campaign schedule, with the official flag-off set to be held in Kaduna on Saturday, 24th October 2026.

The campaign tours will be led largely by party machinery, with President Tinubu expected to headline only 12 out of the 36 states and the FCT.

During the inauguration of the APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) at the State House on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, President Tinubu explicitly stated that he would not follow the campaign team to every state.

He explained that governance must remain his top priority, noting that “the responsibility of this office does not pause” and that he cannot allow campaign activities to distract him from urgent national duties.

The campaign schedule indicates which states the president will visit. They are Kaduna, Rivers, Plateau, Oyo, Borno, and Enugu. Others are Sokoto, Delta, Kano, Bauchi, and Adamawa.

The APC presidential campaign will close out with a mega rally in the president’s home state of Lagos on January 9, 2027, ahead of the presidential election on January 16, 2027

It is not clear what informed the president’s choice of the twelve states. However, insiders expect that states like Kano are major battlegrounds for the president. Tinubu lost in Kano in 2023, with Rabiu Kwankwaso (then of the NNPP) winning the state with 58.4 percent of votes, the only state he won.

Kwankwaso is now a vice presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDP) and is expected to take advantage of his popularity in his home state.

The President also lost in Plateau, Enugu, and Delta States to the current standard bearer of the NDC, Peter Obi.

His visibility in those states during the campaign tours is seen as strategic, to sway voters or at least get the constitutional threshold of 25 percent of votes in those states.