Reported by Ariajegbe Sylvia Esezobor
A former governorship candidate of the Zenith Labour Party in Ondo State, Dr Abass Mimiko, has unveiled a political coalition designed to mobilise nationwide support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid ahead of the 2027 general elections, positioning the initiative as a platform for Nigerians who support the President without necessarily joining the ruling All Progressives Congress.
The coalition, known as the One Love Coalition, was disclosed at the weekend during an interview with members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Ondo State Council, in Ondo town. Mimiko, who is the younger brother of former Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko, said the initiative was not an APC structure but a platform for Nigerians who wanted to support Tinubu without joining the ruling party. “President Bola Tinubu doesn’t belong to APC alone. He is the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He belongs to all of us,” he said.
Mimiko said he would serve as Director-General of the coalition, which would draw members from across political parties, ethnic groups, religious affiliations and social classes who believe the Tinubu administration is steering the country in the right direction. He said the coalition would begin from Ondo State and spread across the South-West, with membership including politicians from different parties, students, market women, artisans and religious leaders. “I’m going to lead it. We are getting leaders of the Igbo tribe, Hausa tribe, Fulani tribe, Igbira tribe, and all the tribes in Ondo State. We are getting the religious leaders who are usually apolitical involved; look, when the righteous rule, the people rejoice,” he said. He added that the coalition would be inaugurated in all local governments and senatorial districts in the state to ensure Tinubu’s seamless re-election, and that he was targeting over one million votes for the President from Ondo State.
Central to the coalition’s strategy is a grassroots campaign that Mimiko described as door-to-door and house-to-house, funded by voluntary contributions rather than campaign largesse. “We are putting up a coalition. We call it the One Love Coalition of Like Minds. Your own pocket donation. Like they used to do in America. Put your one dollar on the ground, and put your two dollars. And we then lead a campaign, a media campaign, street to street, door to door,” he said. He stressed that his support for Tinubu was not motivated by the prospect of political appointment or access to campaign funds. “If I wanted a political appointment, I’d run to APC. If I want to share in the largesse of what is coming down for the campaign, I will run to APC. We’re not doing this for pecuniary gains,” he said.
Mimiko, who has not jettisoned his ambition to govern Ondo State, said he remained a committed member of the ZLP despite his support for Tinubu’s second-term bid. He argued that the President should not be viewed exclusively through the prism of the APC, and that Nigerians who did not belong to the ruling party could also support his administration. He said the coalition would embark on an extensive grassroots campaign to educate Nigerians on what he described as the achievements of the Tinubu administration, particularly in education, infrastructure, petroleum refining and other sectors.
A key element of the coalition’s messaging targets beneficiaries of federal programmes, particularly the Nigeria Education Loan Fund. Mimiko warned students that such programmes should not be taken for granted under future administrations. “We will tell them not to assume that if President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not president tomorrow, that NELFUND continues. Don’t make that assumption. You’ll be goofing. You will have a president who says, well, let their parents struggle and pay if they want their children to go to university or polytechnic,” he said. He said the coalition would engage students, market women and people from all walks of life to build what he described as a robust platform for the campaign.
The initiative comes amid a broader political realignment ahead of the 2027 elections, with several groups and individuals positioning themselves to support Tinubu’s re-election from outside the APC structure. Mimiko’s elder brother, former Governor Olusegun Mimiko, formally joined the APC in May 2026 and declared support for Tinubu’s re-election, citing the President’s reforms across key sectors. The younger Mimiko’s decision to remain in the ZLP while campaigning for Tinubu reflects a different approach, one that seeks to build a cross-party movement rather than consolidate support within the ruling party.
Mimiko also used the occasion to challenge state governors to account for the increased allocations accruing to states following the removal of petrol subsidy, saying the Federal Government should not be blamed for every hardship experienced by citizens. “I don’t think it is the responsibility of the president to come to a state and say, this is what you should do with your money. Governors are receiving more money now, and they also have to account for what they are doing with those resources,” he said. He urged Nigerians to demand greater transparency from governors over the trillions of naira allocated to states, insisting that citizens should insist on meaningful improvements in their lives rather than directing every complaint at the federal government.
The coalition’s launch adds a new organisational dimension to the campaign for Tinubu’s re-election, which has already attracted endorsements from several quarters. In July 2026, North-East leaders endorsed Tinubu and pledged bloc votes for the ruling APC in the 2027 election. The forum of former presiding officers of state Houses of Assembly has also endorsed Tinubu and pledged to mobilise their members across the country’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. Nigeria Forward, a socio-political movement unveiled in September 2026, has called on the North to respect the principle of power rotation and allow Tinubu to complete an eight-year tenure. Mimiko’s One Love Coalition seeks to complement these efforts by reaching Nigerians who support the President but are not card-carrying members of the APC, a constituency that could prove decisive in a closely contested election.
The 2027 presidential election is scheduled for January 16, with the governorship and state assembly elections following on February 6. Tinubu is seeking a second term, while former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress and former Anambra Governor Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress are among the major challengers. For Mimiko, the coalition represents an opportunity to shape the political conversation in Ondo State and the South-West while supporting a President he believes deserves continuity. For the Tinubu campaign, it offers a vehicle for broadening support beyond the APC’s traditional base. Whether the One Love Coalition can translate its grassroots ambitions into electoral advantage will be determined at the polls, but for now, Mimiko has made his position clear: Tinubu is not just APC’s President, and his re-election is a project that belongs to all Nigerians.
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