2027: NRM inaugurates campaign council - The Guardian Nigeria News

The National Rescue Movement (NRM), on Tuesday, inaugurated its Presidential Campaign Council for the 2027 general elections, with its presidential candidate, Dr. Esther Nkem Okereke, declaring that the campaign will focus on organisation, evidence, peace and strict adherence to the law.

The party said the campaign council had been structured as a coordinated institution extending from the presidential candidate and Director-General to national directorates, geopolitical zones, states, local government areas, wards and polling units.

Okereke, disclosed this in Abuja at the inauguration, said the party was seeking to move away from what she described as a politics centred on power-sharing towards a political system focused on prosperity and measurable development.

The campaign council is expected to commence its phased nationwide mobilisation ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Okereke said: “For too long, politics in Nigeria has been about sharing power. Our politics will be about sharing prosperity. For too long, campaigns have been about noise. Our campaign will be about structure, evidence and peace.”

Okereke, who emerged as the NRM’s presidential candidate at the party’s primary in Abuja in May, said the movement was presenting itself as a platform to address insecurity, poverty, unemployment, poor infrastructure and what it described as institutional weaknesses.

She said the party’s principles included legality, constitutionalism, accountability, transparency, national unity, peaceful political participation and the rule of law.

According to her, the campaign council would operate through a defined chain of command, with the candidate providing direction, followed by the Director-General, directorates, zonal, state, LGA and ward structures.

She directed campaign officials to avoid unauthorised statements and parallel commands, while requiring coordinators to submit daily incident reports, weekly performance reports and monthly consolidated reports.

Okereke also charged the council’s security and safety liaison team to work only with legally constituted security agencies.

In his remarks, the NRM National Chairman, Prince Chinedu Obi, said Nigeria had the human and natural resources required for development but needed institutions, leadership systems and accountability mechanisms capable of converting those resources into improved living standards.

Obi said the party’s governing philosophy was built around “Rule of Law for Peace, Productivity and Shared Prosperity.”

He said the NRM’s proposed approach to governance included standard operating procedures for ministries, departments and agencies, with clearly defined mandates, approval processes, procurement standards, financial controls, reporting requirements and performance indicators.

The chairman said the party would pursue what it described as zero tolerance for corruption through stronger institutions, transparent processes, oversight and sanctions for violations of established laws and procedures.

He said: “The government should be able to answer simple questions: What are we trying to achieve? Who is responsible? What resources have been allocated? What is the deadline? What measurable result is expected?”.

He also unveiled the party’s six principal policy pillars, collectively described as the Esther Rescue Nigeria Agenda, which he said distilled the 24 pillars contained in the NRM blueprint.

The pillars focus on effective state institutions and accountability; a productive economy and employment; education, healthcare and human capital development; security, justice and national cohesion; infrastructure and energy; and science, technology, innovation and the knowledge economy.

Also speaking, the Director-General of the Presidential Campaign Council, said the campaign would operate under what he called the “Rescue Nigeria First Policy”, urging Nigerians to place national interests above party boundaries.

He explained that the campaign’s symbol, the bee, represented the movement’s stated intention to identify and promote productive leadership irrespective of political affiliation.