Speaking on Niger Unfiltered podcast, Ajayi said it is historically inaccurate for Nigerians to expect a sitting President to campaign everywhere, as the job is about deploying party machinery not personal presence everywhere.
He said the APC campaign structure with almost 1,000 people, governors leading in their states, local government chairmen in LGAs, senators in senatorial districts and House members in federal constituencies, was designed for that reason.
Ajayi said: “Since 1999 when we returned to democratic governance, no President campaigned in 36 states. In 2003 Obasanjo, in 2007 Yar’Adua campaign, in 2011 and 2015 Jonathan didn’t.”
He explained that in 2003 when President Olusegun Obasanjo was seeking re-election, he did not campaign in 36 states, and in 2007 the PDP President campaigning actively for Yar’Adua also did not cover all states.
He added that even President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011 when running in his own capacity for first time and in 2015 even when election was postponed for two or three weeks did not campaign in 36 states and FCT.
He said it was only within the postponement window in 2015 that Jonathan was trying to cover as many cities as possible, but still did not cover the entire country.
Ajayi said President Tinubu has made it clear he will campaign and campaigning in a state is not the only way to engage Nigerians, as town hall meetings and other forms of engagement could be part of the plan.
He insisted that it is logistically impossible for a President to campaign in over 8,000 wards across the country, which is why he has foot soldiers and a campaign structure devolved to ward and unit level to deliver votes.