The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), unanimously passed a vote of confidence in President Bola Tinubu.
Following this decision, a founding member of the APC and former Director General of Voice of Nigeria, Osita Okechukwu attributed this endorsement to Tinubu’s achievements in security, infrastructure, and economic development.
He expressed this sentiment during an interview with ARISE NEWS on Thursday, saying, “The vote of confidence was posed on three grounds. One, for the huge attention Mr. President has paid to the security that has been rendering our economic development prostrate. Going to two years, he has paid enormous attention to put investment in the kinetic security and the non-kinetic. I will talk on the fact that he created a livestock ministry and gave the minister a mandate to make sure that he will halt, if not stop the farmers herders crisis that has made some crop farmers not to go to their farms. And they happened to have met the minister and he told me that about 17 states had agreed to donate land for huge livestock development and they have made some friends of Nigeria accordingly.
“Secondly, Mr. President had initiated and is doing enormous in the critical infrastructure. He initiated the progressive institute. That one concerns our party but it is important for intellectual development. He looked back and said that the confidence will mean small hard work for the good people of Nigeria. And he talked of the crisis in the states. We knew that such crisis will come the day we won the election in 2015. It’s because human beings want to go to greener pastures.”
Responding to concerns over the infrequency of NEC meetings, Okechukwu dismissed any worries, arguing that President Tinubu understands the right timing for political action. Using an analogy, he likened the situation to students who perform well in exams despite studying only when necessary. While acknowledging that the party should hold more regular meetings, he expressed confidence that party activities would intensify as the 2027 general elections approach.
He said, “In the studentry, both in primary, secondary or tertiary, some students that might come top of the class, they don’t read until there’s an exam. So, I think that Mr. President, the leader of the party, he knows the right time to call the shots. Maybe he belongs to the school of students that do not read until exam time. I hope there’ll be more activities in terms of the organs of the party as we approach 2027 general elections.”
When asked whether Tinubu could face opposition from within the APC in 2027, Okechukwu dismissed the idea that the vote of confidence means an automatic second term for the president. He stressed that the APC remains a progressive party, open to internal competition and diverse perspectives. However, he reaffirmed that the endorsement was a recognition of Tinubu’s ongoing efforts to strengthen national security, expand infrastructure, and drive economic stability.
“I don’t think the fact of vote of confidence closes the avenue. We are a progressive party. We came from progressive formation. The vote of confidence is to reinforce Mr. President in the good infrastructural development going on, in the kinetic and non kinetic arsenal for security to bring our people back to life and other interno.”
