A coalition of chief executives of federal agencies and parastatals has emerged as a proposed support structure for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election campaign ahead of the 2027 general election. Operating under the Forum of CEOs of Federal Parastatals (FORCEPA), the group aims to work alongside the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) by contributing to campaign planning, strategic communication and grassroots mobilisation. In an article published by THISDAY, development journalist Omonu Nelson described the coalition as a potentially significant development in the president’s re-election strategy, arguing that agency heads could help communicate the administration’s record to Nigerians.
The forum, led by Dr Kazeem Kolawole Raji, Director-General of the National Board for Technology Incubation, has engaged APC National Chairman Professor Nentawe Yilwatda and members of the party’s National Working Committee. According to the article, the group believes that officials responsible for implementing government policies are well placed to explain the administration’s programmes and achievements. Its proposed role includes identifying communication gaps, strengthening campaign messages and extending political engagement to communities that the central campaign structure may not adequately reach. The forum has maintained that its proposed arrangement would complement the PCC rather than compete with or replace it.
The article argues that the 2027 campaign will differ from the 2023 election campaign because the focus is expected to shift from promises to the administration’s record in office. It suggests that the forum’s members could draw on their professional experience, institutional knowledge and community networks to communicate government policies and reforms. The piece also references assessments by the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, African Development Bank, Fitch and S&P, which it says have acknowledged progress in Nigeria’s reform programme. However, it notes that translating macroeconomic improvements into lower living costs, more jobs, stronger purchasing power and improved living standards remains an important challenge for the administration.
Raji’s leadership is presented in the article as a key factor in the forum’s proposed activities. It describes him as an engineer with more than 25 years of experience in leadership, project management and technological innovation, alongside academic qualifications spanning several disciplines. Raji also played a role in the Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaign Council during the 2023 election as Director of National Youth Mobilisation for the South-West. Another prominent member is Otunba Biodun Ajiboye, Executive Secretary of the National Institute for Cultural Orientation and chairman of the forum’s Media and Publicity Committee. With more than three decades of experience in media and advertising, Ajiboye is described as bringing communication expertise to the group’s plans for public engagement and campaign messaging.
The article concludes that the coalition could become an important component of Tinubu’s second-term campaign by bringing together government officials who can explain the administration’s policies and programmes. It argues that coordinating institutional knowledge with political communication and grassroots mobilisation could help the APC present its record ahead of the 2027 election. The forum’s proposed contribution includes communicating reforms, highlighting government initiatives and reaching communities across the country. The article presents the arrangement as a way to connect the administration’s policy agenda with public understanding, while acknowledging that the impact of the government’s economic reforms will also depend on whether Nigerians experience improvements in their daily lives.
