Lagos APC Issues Strict Directive To 2027 Candidates, Bans Overseas Trips Until After Election

The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has directed all its candidates to remain in Nigeria until after the 2027 general elections.

According to Bush Radio Academy, the party’s state chairman, Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi, announced the directive during the inauguration of the APC’s Tinubu-Hamzat Campaign Council at the party secretariat on Acme Road, Ikeja.

Ojelabi said the decision was aimed at ensuring that the party’s candidates remain available and focused on campaign and grassroots mobilisation activities ahead of the elections. He also urged the party’s members not to underestimate opposition parties as preparations intensify.

“No candidate is allowed to travel outside the country until after the general election,” Ojelabi said, while also calling for a peaceful campaign devoid of hatred, thuggery and violence.

The Lagos APC chairman said the party would take its campaign to the grassroots by deploying its structures across senatorial districts, local government areas, wards and polling units. Reports from the inauguration indicate that the campaign council has more than 1,200 members and is headed by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu as chairman, with Obafemi Hamzat serving as deputy chairman and Senator Musiliu Obanikoro as director-general.

Ojelabi also urged party members to remain united and committed to the campaign while maintaining peaceful conduct throughout the electioneering period.

The APC’s governorship candidate, Obafemi Hamzat, separately called on party members to base their campaign on facts, data and the records of the government rather than emotion.

The directive comes as the Lagos APC formally begins its campaign activities ahead of the 2027 general elections, with the party seeking to mobilise voters across the state for its candidates