Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, has chosen to concentrate on deepening his campaign for President Bola Tinubu's re-election through an expanded media grassroots engagement and mobilisation strategy, rather than engaging in a public war of words with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, who recently criticized him. As the Chairman of the Progressives Governors' Forum (PGF) and Director-General of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors (RHA), Uzodimma is taking the message of Tinubu's Renewed Hope Agenda to local communities across Nigeria.
The latest phase of the strategy involves a wider media and public enlightenment campaign, with a weekly media outreach to be featured on television channels, set to commence in the coming days. According to Shehu Bala Usman, RHA Director of Logistics, the initiative aims to effectively use digital and new media platforms to enlighten the general public about the Federal Government's policies, counter misinformation, and connect the administration's reforms narrative with voters at the grassroots.
A group of lawyers had previously called on the FCT Minister to stop what they described as personal attacks on Uzodimma, to avoid conflict of interest and ensure proper coordination of the President's re-election campaign. However, Uzodimma has continued to focus on building a nationwide communication and mobilisation machinery for the Tinubu administration. The Renewed Hope Ambassadors had earlier unveiled a digital platform designed to aggregate policy experts for reforms updates and other government information.
The digital platform also integrates social media channels to widen its reach, providing for citizen engagements and feedback, with the organisation's structures extended from the national level to states, local governments, wards, and polling units. This development represents an expansion of Uzodimma's broader strategy of using media communication as a mobilisation tool ahead of the 2027 elections.
At a national mobilisation retreat in Abuja in June 2026, Uzodimma warned that inadequate communication could create a distorted public perception of government policies and achievements, urging supporters to take the administration's message directly to the grassroots. He subsequently disclosed a mobilisation architecture covering Nigeria's 176,846 polling units, with 25 canvassers appointed at each polling unit, amounting to 4,421,150 grassroots mobilisers.
Uzodimma has used the RHA platform to rally support for Tinubu's second-term bid, instructing National Directors and Coordinators in the 36 states, including the FCT, to intensify grassroots mobilisation and public awareness of the administration's programmes. This approach suggests a shift of emphasis from the political exchanges surrounding the Wike-Uzodimma feud to the larger electoral objective of consolidating support for Tinubu and projecting the achievements of his administration.
The RHA said the media strategy is being positioned not merely as an information campaign, but as a grassroots communication network capable of taking the Renewed Hope message into communities, markets, campuses, wards, and polling units ahead of the 2027 presidential election and beyond. Uzodimma had earlier said the 2027 election would test public acceptance of Tinubu's reform agenda, arguing that supporters of the administration must do more to communicate its policies and achievements to Nigerians.
Key points
- Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, is intensifying efforts to mobilize grassroots support for President Bola Tinubu's re-election through a media and public enlightenment campaign.
- The campaign aims to effectively use digital and new media platforms to enlighten the general public about the Federal Government's policies and connect the administration's reforms narrative with voters at the grassroots.
- Uzodimma's strategy involves a nationwide communication and mobilisation machinery, with a focus on building a grassroots communication network capable of taking the Renewed Hope message to communities across Nigeria.
