2027 Campaigns: Why Tinubu Goes To Opponents' Living Rooms But Skips Anambra

2027 Campaigns

OpenLife News reports that the All Progressives Congress, APC 12-state schedule for President Bola Tinubu’s personal appearances ahead of 2027 is not random. It is a surgical battleground strategy.

The list tells a story of where the APC thinks the election will be won or lost, and why Anambra is conspicuously missing.

According to the news, APC has outlined a proposed nationwide campaign rally schedule covering the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The proposed campaign is scheduled to kick off in Kaduna on October 24, 2026, and conclude with a grand rally in Lagos on January 9, 2027.

The itinerary identifies 12 strategic locations where President Bola Tinubu is expected to join the party’s presidential campaign activities, with rallies planned across the country’s six geopolitical zones.

Here is the full list of the 12 states proposed for Tinubu’s presidential campaign appearances.

According to the proposed schedule, the 12 locations and dates are as follows:

1. Kaduna, Kaduna State — October 24, 2026 (Saturday)
2. Port Harcourt, Rivers State — November 7, 2026 (Saturday)
3. Jos, Plateau State — November 14, 2026 (Saturday)

4. Ibadan, Oyo State — November 21, 2026 (Saturday)
5. Maiduguri, Borno State — November 25, 2026 (Wednesday)
6. Enugu, Enugu State — November 28, 2026 (Saturday)

7. Bauchi, Bauchi State — November 29, 2026 (Sunday)
8. Sokoto, Sokoto State — December 4, 2026 (Friday)
9. Asaba, Delta State — December 12, 2026 (Saturday)

10. Kano, Kano State — December 17, 2026 (Thursday)
11. Yola, Adamawa State — January 4, 2027 (Monday)
12. Lagos, Lagos State — January 9, 2027 (Saturday)

In the view od analysts, this is a classic incumbent’s “offense as defence” strategy: take the fight to the states that define your main opponents, rather than just consolidating your own.

Why Skip Anambra?

Four probable reasons have emerged

[A] Anambra is Peter Obi’s fortress
Anambra is not just an ordinary state. It is Peter Obi’s home state. In 2023, Obi scored 95% in Anambra.

For Tinubu to hold a presidential rally in Awka or Onitsha risks a low turnout or a hostile reception that would create bad optics on live TV.

Enugu was chosen instead as the South-East anchor – it is more cosmopolitan, has an APC governor in Peter Mbah’s PDP administration that is friendly to the centre, and gives coverage to the zone without walking into Obi’s strongest fortress.

[B] Strategic Vote Suppression, Not Vote Hunting

In political strategy, sometimes you skip a state not because you have given up, but because you don’t want to energize the opponent’s base.

A Tinubu rally in Anambra could mobilize Obidient supporters to come out massively to counter it. By skipping it, APC may be hoping for voter apathy in a state it knows it cannot win.

[C] Proxy Campaign Over Presidential Campaign

APC does not need Tinubu himself in Anambra. The party has strong Anambra stakeholders – including Sen. Ifeanyi Ubah’s political structure (now inherited by APC), and Chris Ngige, Arthur Eze.

The plan is likely to leave Anambra for state-level leaders and surrogates to handle, while Tinubu’s limited energy is conserved for swing states like Rivers, Delta, Kano and Plateau where he can flip votes.

[D] The 12-State Formula Is About Zones, Not 36 States

The schedule is 2 states per geopolitical zone = 12 states.

For South-East, Enugu was picked as the zonal headquarters. It is centrally located to pull crowd from Ebonyi, Imo, Abia and Anambra.

So Anambra is technically covered under the Enugu rally, just like Bayelsa is covered under Port Harcourt.

Bottom Line

Tinubu’s list is less of a nationwide tour and more of a war map. He is going to Kaduna to confront the El-Rufai/Kwankwaso northern bloc, to Kano to battle Kwankwaso on his soil, to Yola to battle Atiku on his soil, and to Enugu/Delta/Rivers to battle Obi’s South-East/South-South dominance.

Skipping Anambra is not an oversight. It is a calculated admission that Anambra is Obi’s strongest stronghold, where the political cost of appearing outweighs the electoral gain – and where Enugu can serve as a safer regional proxy.