As President Bola Tinubu kicks-off his Tinubu kicks-off his presidential campaigns in Kaduna on Saturday, the Forum of CEOs of Federal Government Parastatals (FORCEPA) said it has mobilised more than 100,000 supporters to storm the venue reaffirming its support for the President and Vice President Kashim Shettima’s re-election in 2027.
Comprising over 500 CEOs of federal agencies and parastatals, the forum also pledged to mobilise 10 million votes for the President and his vice based on the need for policy continuity and consolidation of the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Chairman of the forum, Kazeem Kolawole Raji,.and.ithers at a press conference at the Federal Secretariat, said members had been deployed to Kaduna to coordinate mobilisation and engage stakeholders ahead of the campaign event.
“We have decided, as a group comprising over 500 CEOs across the country, to lend our support to the re-election of Mr President. In view of this, we have decided to mobilise over 100,000 supporters for the presidential campaign kick-off in Kaduna on Saturday,” Raji said.
Declaring that the Tinubu administration deserved a second term, he said the forum was established to harness the institutional experience and networks of federal agency chiefs to promote public awareness of government policies and programmes.
FORCEPA particularly defended the Tinubu administration’s economic reforms, including petrol subsidy removal, describing them as difficult but necessary measures to strengthen public finances, attract investment and support long-term growth.
However, the forum acknowledged the hardship facing households and businesses, saying the success of the reforms would depend on their ability to deliver jobs, higher incomes and improved living standards.
“The next phase of national transformation should consolidate progress, address implementation challenges and translate economic stabilisation into more tangible improvement in the lives of ordinary Nigerians,” Raji said.
The forum also projected that a proposed policy requiring local value addition to raw materials before export could generate at least 1.2 million jobs within one to two years of implementation.
Raji said the policy framework envisaged at least 30 per cent value addition before raw materials could be exported, adding that the proposal had undergone executive and legislative processes, including reviews by the Ministry of Justice and the National Assembly.
He said local processing of commodities such as cocoa would expand manufacturing, reduce reliance on imported finished goods and ease pressure on foreign exchange demand.
The 1.2 million jobs figure, however, was a projection of the policy’s potential impact, not an established outcome.
The agency chiefs also cited entrepreneurship support, student loans and innovation programmes as evidence of efforts to expand economic opportunities.
One official said his agency, which operates in 58 locations nationwide, had supported more than 100,000 entrepreneurs since its establishment in 1993.
He added that nearly 300 young Nigerian innovators had travelled to London to present their ideas to international investors, with the government reportedly covering their travel, accommodation and feeding expenses.
On the rising cost of living and building materials, the officials acknowledged persistent pressures on households but argued that increased domestic production could reduce import dependence and exposure to exchange-rate fluctuations.
They cited cement manufacturing as an example of how local production could strengthen the economy and reduce reliance on imports.
The officials also said savings from petrol subsidy removal had created room for interventions such as student loans and conditional cash transfers, while urging journalists to scrutinise the deployment of the funds and assess the impact of the reforms.
