‘The schedule clearly marks 12 strategic states for what the party calls “President Visibility” — states where President Tinubu is expected to personally attend and lead the campaign’
…Gov Eno, Akpabio, Ekperikpe Ekpo jittery
By Ime Silas
ABUJA — President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will not be visiting Akwa Ibom State during the All Progressives Congress, APC, nationwide presidential campaign flag-off, as the ruling party has released its proposed 36 states and Federal Capital Territory rally schedule for the 2026/2027 general elections.
According to the official timetable sighted by our correspondent, the APC campaign will commence on Saturday, October 24, 2026, in Kaduna, Kaduna State, and climax with a major closing rally in Lagos on Saturday, January 9, 2027.
The schedule clearly marks 12 strategic states for what the party calls “President Visibility” — states where President Tinubu is expected to personally attend and lead the campaign.
Curiously, Akwa Ibom State, one of the highest oil-producing states in the Niger Delta and a major contributor to the national purse, is conspicuously missing from the presidential visibility list.
While Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, is slated to host a routine party rally on Wednesday, November 18, 2026, the President is not expected to be present, according to the document.
The President is instead scheduled to appear in Kaduna (Oct 24), Port Harcourt, Rivers (Nov 7), Jos, Plateau (Nov 14), Ibadan, Oyo (Nov 21), Maiduguri, Borno (Nov 25), Enugu (Nov 28), Bauchi (Nov 29), Sokoto (Dec 4), Asaba, Delta (Dec 12), Kano (Dec 17), Yola, Adamawa (Jan 4) and Lagos for the grand finale (Jan 9).
Political observers in Uyo have described the development as a deliberate shunning of the state by the Presidency. Akwa Ibom State is where the Senate President, His Excellency, Distinguished Sen Godswill Obot Akpabio, GCON, hails from. He was also governor of the oil-rich state between 2005 and 2015.
Former National Assembly member and current Minister of Petroleum (Gas), Rt. Honourable (Obongemem) Ekperikpe Ekpo also comes from Akwa Ibom State.
It would be recalled that the president had reportedly boycotted an earlier publicized commissioning of projects in the Niger Delta-state, a move that generated widespread reactions among stakeholders in the state.
The latest omission has further fueled speculations about the frosty relationship between the federal government and the state despite Akwa Ibom’s strategic economic importance as well as being home to the number three man in the country.
Pundits say the President’s latest action may not be unconnected to lack of any tangible federal projects in the state despite topping the list of highest contributors to the national purse.
According to analysts, Akwa Ibom, which consistently ranks among the top three oil-producing states and a major source of revenue through oil and gas, has little to show in terms of federal presence, with key federal roads, the Calabar-Itu-Ikot Ekpene highway, Ibaka Deep Seaport and other critical infrastructure still begging for appropriate attention.
The latest development is reported to have sent shock waves across different political blocs respectively led by Gov Umo Eno, Sen President Akpabio and Petroleum Minister Ekperikpe Ekpo, as one political analyst noted that it signals a possible ‘out-of-favour’. Sources close to the corridors of power confided in our correspondent that the key government figures from the state are reportedly having difficult moments as the development is sending wrong signal across the state’s political landscape.
“How do you campaign in a state where you have no project to commission or point to? The President shunning Akwa Ibom is not surprising. The people are asking, what has the Federal Government done for us under this administration to warrant a presidential rally here?. Besides, it’s also a sign that our political leaders are out of favour” a political analyst in Uyo who pleaded anonymity told our correspondent.
Another pundit noted that the decision to deploy the President to neighbouring Rivers and Delta states, both also Niger Delta states, while skipping Akwa Ibom, sends a clear political signal.
The APC, however, in a footnote on the flyer, stated that the schedule is proposed and is subject to official confirmation.
But as it stands, the timetable shows that when the APC presidential campaign train berths in Uyo on November 18, 2026, it will do so without President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
As expressed by many Akwa Ibomites, the question remains whether the absence is mere political strategy or a continued manifestation of what they perceive as federal neglect of the oil-rich state.