2027: Kogi Central PDP Targets Every Household, Polling Unit for Victory

• Natasha inaugurates campaign organisation, charges team on grassroots mobilisation

• Etudaiye emerges DG, Karaku Campaign Chairman, vows to deliver decisive victory

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kogi Central Senatorial District has begun mobilisation for the 2027 general election with an aggressive grassroots strategy targeting every ward, polling unit, and even household across the district.

The party, under the leadership of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, inaugurated its Kogi Central Campaign Organisation with a mandate to coordinate an extensive grassroots campaign aimed at securing victory for all PDP candidates in the senatorial district.

A statement by her Media Office on Tuesday explained that at the inauguration, Akpoti-Uduaghan charged the campaign team to move beyond conventional political rallies and establish direct and sustained contact with voters across the district.

She said the party’s campaign must be taken directly to the people through house-to-house and polling-unit-by-polling-unit mobilisation.

She stated, “This campaign must be house-to-house and polling-unit-by-polling-unit. We must reach our people directly, listen to them, engage them and explain clearly why the PDP remains the best platform for the development and progress of our people.”

The senator also called on members of the party to open their doors to new entrants and reconcile existing differences in the interest of PDP’s 2027 electoral prospects.

Akpoti-Uduaghan said, “We must open our doors for everyone who wants to join this moving train and this winning team. There is room for everyone who believes in the PDP and in the future we are building for Kogi Central.”

She tasked the campaign organisation with ensuring that every ward and polling unit was adequately covered, stressing that the task would require discipline, unity, and commitment from all stakeholders.

Akpoti-Uduaghan said the campaign could not be left to a few individuals, stating that party leaders, women, youths, ward executives, campaign coordinators, and volunteers must work together to achieve the desired result.

The senator’s charge came as the newly inaugurated campaign Director-General, Dr. Salami Etudaiye, declared that PDP was prepared to build a formidable political movement capable of penetrating every part of Kogi Central.

Etudaiye, who described his appointment as a “sacred responsibility”, said he accepted the assignment with the determination to organise a disciplined and effective campaign machinery for the party.

He said, “This is not a ceremonial title. This is a call to battle. I did not accept this assignment to manage a campaign of polite handshakes and quiet meetings. I accepted it to organise a movement.”

The campaign director-general said PDP would take its message to Okene, Adavi, Ajaokuta, Okehi, and Ogori-Magongo, with particular emphasis on wards, polling units, streets, markets, campuses, and households.

“We are not going into this election to beg. We are going in to win and to win decisively,” he declared.

Etudaiye said the campaign would be anchored on organisation, mobilisation, unity, and discipline, while urging party members across the senatorial district to take ownership of the electoral project.

He specifically called on women and youths to play a central role in the campaign, describing women as the backbone of the party and youths as critical to contemporary political mobilisation.

“To our youth: your energy, your digital power, your courage in this campaign will be incomplete without you. Come and own it,” he said.

He pledged to lead the campaign with transparency and competence, promising to coordinate the party’s operations and pursue every vote.

“I pledge to lead this organisation with transparency, with competence, and with an unrelenting focus on victory. I will listen. I will coordinate. I will fight for every vote,” Etudaiye said.

He described the campaign as a “revolution of hope for Kogi Central”, expressing confidence that the collective effort of party members would produce victory for PDP.

The campaign chairman, Hon. Alhaji Abubakar Karaku, also urged members to subordinate personal interests to the larger objective of strengthening the party and winning the 2027 elections.

Karaku called for unity, discipline, and peaceful political engagement, warning members against politics of bitterness, personal attacks, and divisive rhetoric.

He said, “This is the time for every member of our great party to come together. We must put aside whatever differences we may have and concentrate on the larger objective of building a stronger PDP and securing victory for our candidates.”

He said the party’s campaign should be based on programmes, facts, commitment, and direct engagement with the electorate rather than political hostility.

Karaku stated, “Our message must be positive, our conduct must be responsible, and our mobilisation must be strategic.

“We must convince the people through our programmes, our commitment and our presence at the grassroots. Elections are won by organisation, unity and the ability to connect with the people.”

The chairman further urged ward leaders, polling-unit coordinators, women and youth leaders, volunteers and other campaign operatives to work as a single team, stressing that no individual should regard himself or herself as too important to work with others.

Karaku stated, “Nobody should consider himself or herself too important to work with another person. Every vote matters, every ward matters and every polling unit matters. If we remain united, disciplined and focused, we can achieve the victory we desire.”

He appealed to PDP supporters to maintain peace throughout the electoral process and promote issue-based political engagement.

The newly inaugurated campaign organisation has Karaku as Chairman and Etudaiye as Director-General, while Hon. Jacob Anebe serves as Secretary.

Others are Hon. Ilyasu Zubair, Head of Operations; Hon. Isiaka Uhuanaye, Head of Technical; and Hon. Jane Onoba, Head of Welfare.

The inauguration signals the commencement of coordinated campaign activities by PDP across the four local government areas of Kogi Central, with the campaign leadership expected to build structures extending to wards and polling units.

The organisation is also expected to work with party leaders, stakeholders, women and youth groups, ward executives, and grassroots supporters in an effort to take PDP’s message directly to voters across the senatorial district ahead of the 2027 elections.