File: Asiwaju Muyiwa Asagunla, DG, Asiwaju Mandate Group, addressing the group's members during a stakeholders meeting in Akure, Ondo state
The Asiwaju Mandate Group has said it will mobilise voters across Ondo State to ensure the re-election of President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general elections.
The group’s Director-General, Asiwaju Asagunla, said the organisation was established to boost political participation and encourage eligible voters to exercise their civic responsibilities.
According to a statement by Asagunla on Friday, speaking during a stakeholders’ meeting at the AMG Secretariat, he said voter apathy remained a major challenge in Nigeria, noting that a large number of registered voters often fail to participate in elections.
He said Ondo State had nearly two million registered voters, but only about 600,000 usually turn out to vote during elections.
Asagunla said, “Out of two million voters in Ondo State, only 600,000 voters usually vote, leaving the remaining 1.4 million voters unattended.”
He called for measures to discourage voter apathy, including possible penalties for citizens who fail to participate in elections.
He said, “I still want to reiterate on that law introduced during the Buhari administration that there should be some form of penalty attached to electoral apathy, whether for not collecting a voter’s card or not participating in elections.”
The AMG leader said the group had structures across the 18 local government areas, 203 wards and nearly 4,000 polling units in Ondo State.
He added that the group would focus on voter education and mobilisation among traders, youths, students, artisans, labour unions and transport workers ahead of the 2027 elections.
Asagunla said, “We are out to mobilise as many people as possible. That is why BTO has formed and supported this group, so that we can make sure that a substantial number of registered voters in Ondo State participate in elections.”
The Chairman of the AMG Elders Council and former senator, Yele Omogunwa, criticised the Ondo State Government over what he described as poor stakeholder engagement within the ruling All Progressives Congress.
Omogunwa said lack of inclusiveness had created dissatisfaction among some party members and supporters.
He, however, praised Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, for creating a platform that accommodates youths, women, artisans and elderly citizens through the AMG.
He said, “But when it comes to BTO, he accommodates the elderly, women, youths and artisans in his AMG.”
A former Ondo State commissioner, Prince Solagbade Amodeeni, also commended Tunji-Ojo for sustaining grassroots mobilisation within the APC in the state.
Amodeeni claimed that many party structures had become inactive, adding that support groups had helped maintain political engagement.
He said, “The revival that is going on in APC now is not from the state government. It is from the quality of leadership that Bunmi Tunji-Ojo is providing.”
The stakeholders pledged to intensify mobilisation efforts ahead of the 2027 elections, saying increased voter participation would be critical to the party’s electoral success.
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