2027 Presidency: DLA Governorship Candidates Collapse Structure For Tinubu Nationwide

The 2027 Presidency race is generating new political alignments ahead of the general elections, as Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA) governorship candidates pledge to collapse their political structures nationwide for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election while retaining their ambitions to contest other elective positions under their party.

The forum of DLA governorship candidates, led by the party’s Taraba State governorship candidate, Hon. Aboki Bayonga, announced its position at a press conference on Friday in Abuja. The candidates also pledged to work with Arewa for Asiwaju (A4A) to mobilise support for Tinubu’s 2027 presidential bid.

Other DLA governorship candidates in attendance included th secretary of the Forum, Alhaji Adamu Idrisu Chado from Kaduna State; Hon. Bekky Folorunso James from Osun State; Prof. Valdya Tame from Adamawa State; Hon. Ibrahim Musa from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT); Hon. Sam Umar from Plateau State; Alhaji Sani Mohammed from Gombe State; Hon. Nnamdi Ugwu from Enugu State; and Hon. Brent Micheal from Bauchi State, among others.

The DLA governorship candidates, however, ruled out defecting to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), insisting that their decision to collapse their political structures for Tinubu was strictly limited to the presidential election. They maintained that their support for the President would not affect their ambitions to contest governorship, senatorial, House of Representatives and state House of Assembly seats on the DLA platform.

Bayonga explained that the decision by the DLA governorship candidates to support Tinubu followed consultations among party members, who agreed to back the President because the party had no presidential candidate of its own for the 2027 election.

He said the endorsement did not amount to abandoning the DLA, stressing that the candidates would continue to pursue their respective political ambitions under the party’s platform while mobilising support for Tinubu’s re-election.

“As the Forum of Governorship candidates of DLA, we are here today declaring our support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as our Presidential candidate in 2027. Not that we have dropped our aspirations under our own platform. But as for the presidential, we are for Asiwaju 100 per cent. We will work for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to come back. We will do everything possible to make sure that Asiwaju is back 2027.

“There are so many reasons for our decision, but time will not permit us to sit down and mention them, but if I can mention a few, like the NELFUND that place our children, whether you pay them school fees, you don’t pay their school fees, they depend on themselves. In terms of agriculture, recently trailers of fertilizers were moving around the country, and they would give you a fertilizer and add you 50,000. It helped the farmer, especially those at the rural area.

“Again, in terms of road construction, you can see what the president is doing concerning road network. He is making a solid road that in years to come, those roads will still be permanent.

“And for us, because we don’t have a presidential candidate, but apart from that, we look at all the presidential candidates, we say, look, you cannot leave opposition and go and join opposition. You will not succeed. Therefore, looking at all of them, we compare them, we find out that, the present government have a lot of things that if given another four years, he will achieve them, and Nigeria will be better.”

Bayonga maintained that a single four-year term might not be sufficient to complete programmes requiring long-term planning and funding, arguing that continuity would enable the Tinubu administration to consolidate its policies and complete ongoing projects.

“We want continuity. Four years is not enough to complete every programme, especially projects that require long-term planning and funding,” he said.

When asked whether the endorsement had the approval of the DLA national chairman and other governorship candidates, Bayonga said the decision followed a meeting of the forum at which members agreed to support Tinubu’s re-election bid.

“Yeah. I am the chairman of the forum of governorship candidates of DLA. And you can see all of us are here. And we agree, and we had a meeting, general meeting yesterday. We agreed upon what we are doing here.”

Bayonga said the DLA governorship candidates had assessed the political situation and the available options ahead of the 2027 general election before concluding that Tinubu deserved another four years to consolidate his administration’s programmes.

He expressed confidence that the candidates’ existing political networks and relationships with voters across their respective states would help drive nationwide grassroots mobilisation for Tinubu’s re-election. He argued that political influence at the grassroots level was not determined solely by party affiliation.

According to Bayonga, many of the DLA governorship candidates had been politically active before joining the party and had established relationships with their communities, which they intended to use in mobilising support for Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.

On concerns that Tinubu’s re-election could lead to a life presidency, Bayonga dismissed the possibility, insisting that the presidency remained subject to constitutional provisions and the will of Nigerians.

He maintained that no individual could claim ownership of the office or remain in power beyond the period permitted by the Constitution, adding that the President’s tenure was ultimately determined by constitutional limits and the electorate.

“The presidency belongs to the Nigerian people. Nobody owns it, and nobody can remain there beyond what the Constitution allows,” he said.

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