Campaign Tour Continues in Gbede to Mobilise Support for Femi Esemikose, Tinubu and Ododo
Gbeede, Ijumu
The All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign train in Ijumu I State Constituency, popularly known as Gbede, has continued its community-to-community engagement with the presentation of the party’s candidate for the State House of Assembly, Hon. Femi Esemikose, to voters and community stakeholders.
The second day of the grassroots campaign tour, held on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, followed the successful commencement of the exercise the previous day and further took the campaign team into communities across the Gbede axis.
The campaign is being coordinated under the leadership of Amb. Oladele John Nihi, Director-General of the APC Campaign Council for Ijumu I, with Hon. Ibikunle Amodu Abubakar serving as Secretary of the committee.
The broader mobilisation is aimed at strengthening the APC’s grassroots structure while seeking support for Esemikose in the State House of Assembly election and the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Kogi State Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo.
The second day of the engagement featured interaction with residents, community leaders, party faithful and other stakeholders, as the campaign team took its message directly to the people.
The approach, according to the organisers, is intended to move beyond conventional campaign rallies by creating opportunities for direct contact with communities, listening to local concerns and presenting the party’s candidates and programmes at the grassroots.
The campaign committee had earlier mapped out a two-day itinerary covering communities across Gbede. The first day, Monday, September 14, took the team through Okoro Gbede, Araomi, Odokoro, Agrigbon and Ayeh, while the second day was scheduled for Aiyetoro Gbede I and II, Iluagba, Iyah, Iluafon and Aiyegunle Gbede.
Leading the campaign team, Nihi said the exercise marked the beginning of a sustained grassroots mobilisation to secure victory for Esemikose and other APC candidates.
He described the grassroots as the foundation of electoral success, stressing that the campaign would continue to engage communities, stakeholders and party members across the constituency.
Nihi was accompanied by Hon. Sikiru Hamza Taiwo, a grassroots politician who previously contested the APC ticket with Esemikose before stepping down in support of the eventual candidate.
Also part of the campaign team were Hon. Amodu Abubakar Prime and Hon. Kelvin Oluseyi Eleta, both Senior Special Assistants to the Kogi State Governor, alongside other government officials, party leaders and APC supporters.
The presence of Hamza Taiwo alongside Esemikose was one of the notable features of the mobilisation. Having been a contender for the party ticket, his decision to support the candidate after the primary was presented by the campaign leadership as an example of party cohesion and reconciliation after an internal contest.
Nihi particularly commended Taiwo for what he described as placing party loyalty above personal ambition.
According to him, political contests should not permanently divide party members, stressing that reconciliation and collective effort were necessary for the party to achieve victory at the general election.
The Director-General said the response from communities during the opening phase of the tour had reinforced his confidence in the APC’s grassroots organisation in Gbede.
He said the campaign would take the party’s message to every community, engage relevant stakeholders and sustain mobilisation until election day.
The campaign also provided an opportunity for Esemikose to interact directly with people within the constituency as the APC sought to consolidate its support at the community level.
Also identified with the campaign is Arc. Salman Idris, Member representing Kabba-Bunu/Ijumu Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, whose presence further underscored the participation of party leadership in the grassroots mobilisation.
The organisers said the community tour was deliberately structured to establish direct links between the party’s campaign organisation and voters, while strengthening relationships with traditional, community and political stakeholders.
They maintained that the exercise was not merely about introducing a candidate, but about building a coordinated grassroots structure capable of carrying the APC’s message into the various communities that make up the constituency.
The campaign committee said its mobilisation would continue with emphasis on unity, consultation and direct engagement, as the APC intensifies preparations for the forthcoming elections.
For Nihi and the campaign team, the message from Gbede is one of organisation and collective effort, with the leadership calling on party members and supporters to close ranks and work together towards victory for Hon. Femi Esemikose, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo and other APC candidates.
The campaign is to open up communities engagements as the APC structure in Ijumu I is working to sustain its grassroots consultations and mobilisation across the constituency.