The race for the 2027 presidential election has gathered momentum as President Bola Tinubu and opposition figures Atiku Abubakar, Seyi Makinde and Peter Obi intensify their campaigns, unveiling competing plans to address insecurity, economic hardship, national unity and poor living conditions.

While Tinubu is seeking re-election on the strength of his administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda, the opposition candidates have criticised the state of the nation and promised alternative approaches to addressing Nigeria’s challenges

Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, who took his campaign to Sokoto on Wednesday, pledged to tackle insecurity and restore fuel subsidy if elected.

Similarly, Oyo State Governor and Allied People’s Movement, APM, presidential candidate, Seyi Makinde, unveiled his Reset Nigeria manifesto in Abuja, promising to ease the economic burden on Nigerians and improve their standard of living.

The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Peter Obi, also promised to promote national unity, tackle insecurity and fight corruption.

Obi, however, condemned political violence ahead of the elections following an attack on his campaign convoy by suspected thugs in Calabar, Cross River State, on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, President Tinubu has urged voters in Nasarawa State’s 13 local government areas to support APC candidates at all levels in the 2027 general elections.

Tinubu, who made the appeal through Vice-President Kashim Shettima at the APC presidential campaign rally in Lafia, said voting for the party would guarantee continuity of his administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

He listed road construction and rehabilitation, improvements in healthcare facilities and schools as some of the achievements recorded in Nasarawa State under his administration, while seeking another four-year mandate.

The President also commended Governor Abdullahi Sule for executing projects aimed at improving the living conditions of residents.

Similarly, Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum and Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, highlighted the benefits of Tinubu’s economic policies and urged Nigerians to re-elect the President.

The APC National Chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas; and Director-General of the party’s Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, expressed confidence that Nasarawa State would deliver massive support for the party.

Earlier, Governor Sule assured the President that the party’s presidential and state campaign councils were committed to securing victory for all APC candidates.

In another development, the APC Presidential Campaign Council says the education reforms introduced by the Tinubu administration have resulted in the disbursement of 372.62 billion naira in student loans and the training of 156,446 beneficiaries under the Technical and Vocational Education and Training programme.

The council, in a statement by its spokesperson and Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, said the reforms had also expanded access to basic education, improved teachers’ welfare and stabilised the academic calendar in tertiary institutions.

It added that the administration had introduced free technical education covering tuition, boarding, textbooks and uniforms to strengthen vocational skills and expand employment opportunities.

According to the council, the Federal Government allocated a record 3.52 trillion naira to education in the 2026 budget and secured 552 million dollars for the HOPE-EDU programme, targeting 29 million children, more than 500,000 teachers and 65,000 public schools.

The APC PCC further said the BESDA programme had returned more than one million out-of-school children to classrooms, trained 1,400 Tsangaya teachers and established 200 bilingual centres in 17 northern states.

It also disclosed that the AGILE programme had reached 7.19 million girls, including 3.7 million enrolled in secondary schools, while more than 10,000 schools had received facility upgrades.

Alake added that the administration had introduced a revised national curriculum to reintroduce Nigerian History and strengthen Civic and Heritage Studies, alongside the restoration of the National Learning Assessment to monitor pupils’ performance and identify learning gaps.

The council also disclosed that 53,553 teachers had registered under the EduRevamp programme, while 51,794 joined the first cohort of the Accelerated Teacher Professionalisation Pathway.

However, opposition parties have continued to question the impact of the administration’s education policies and other reforms on Nigerians as the 2027 general elections approach.