EFFURUN/Nigeria: Senator Ede Dafinone has urged members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State to close ranks, strengthen the party’s grassroots structure and intensify engagement with voters ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Dafinone, the APC senatorial candidate for Delta Central, made the call during a consultation meeting with party leaders and stakeholders at Festus Keyamo Hall, Effurun.
He said the party’s preparations for the 2027 elections required a united membership and sustained engagement with communities across Uvwie.
The senator also called for reconciliation among members who may have become dissatisfied or withdrawn from party activities following the APC primaries, urging leaders to make deliberate efforts to bring them back into the fold.
He said the party’s candidates at all levels would require the collective support of its members, from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to candidates seeking election to the National Assembly and the Delta State House of Assembly.
Dafinone’s emphasis on grassroots mobilisation comes amid broader efforts by the APC to consolidate its structures across Delta Central ahead of the 2027 elections. The senator has previously urged party supporters in the Okpe, Sapele and Uvwie Federal Constituency to strengthen grassroots mobilisation and voter engagement.
Speaking at the Uvwie meeting, the local government APC Chairman, Comrade Dickson Sylvester Oghenevwede, congratulated Dafinone on his emergence as the party’s senatorial candidate and described the candidacy as a collective responsibility of the party.
Oghenevwede said the 2027 senatorial contest should not be regarded as Dafinone’s personal battle, but as a test of the APC’s organisation, unity and ability to mobilise voters across Delta State.
He assured the gathering that the Uvwie chapter would work towards delivering votes for the party’s candidates in the forthcoming elections.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the Delta State Board of Internal Revenue, Chief Solomon Ighrakpata, said APC stakeholders in Uvwie had intensified mobilisation and community-level engagement ahead of the elections.
Ighrakpata said the mobilisation effort was being extended to different groups and communities in Uvwie, including residents from Arewa, Igbo and Hausa backgrounds, among others, as part of efforts to build wider support for the party.
He said the objective was to create broad-based political engagement and ensure that eligible voters were adequately mobilised before the 2027 polls.
The APC candidate for Okpe, Sapele and Uvwie Federal Constituency, Hon. Chief Ramson Onoyake, also urged party members and supporters to work collectively for the success of all APC candidates.
Onoyake called for support for Dafinone, himself and other party candidates, from the presidential election through to the state legislative contests.
Similarly, the APC candidate for Uvwie State Constituency, Hon. Barr. Edafe Emakpor, urged party leaders and members to intensify grassroots mobilisation, saying the party’s electoral prospects would depend largely on the collective efforts of its members and supporters.
In his remarks, the Delta Central APC Chairman, Chief P.D.O. Akpeki, identified unity, cooperation and sustained grassroots engagement as essential to the party’s prospects in 2027.
Akpeki urged the candidates and party leaders to maintain close contact with party members and supporters across the district, stressing the need for coordinated efforts ahead of the elections.
He said the APC was working towards securing victory for all its candidates in the 2027 elections and expressed optimism that Delta State would record strong support for President Tinubu.
The consultation meeting brought together APC leaders, candidates and other stakeholders in Uvwie as part of efforts to consolidate the party’s structure and strengthen its grassroots mobilisation ahead of the 2027 general elections.
