TINUBU ORDERS APC GOVERNORS TO STOP SINGING REFORM SONGS AS UZODIMMA BRIEFS HIM IN LAGOS AND SIGNALS 2027 CAMPAIGN START

President Bola Tinubu met Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma in Lagos on Sunday and pressed All Progressives Congress governors to make ordinary Nigerians feel the results of his economic reforms, not merely hear about them.

Uzodimma, who chairs the Progressive Governors Forum, briefed journalists after the closed-door session at the President’s Lagos residence. He said he travelled to Lagos to update Tinubu on what happened in the country while the President was on a working leave in Europe, and to give an interim report on issues on the ground.

“The President has just come back from a working leave. And while he was away, we were working in Nigeria,” Uzodimma said. “I came and briefed him. We had a very quality conversation, and he is now aware of the things that happened while he was away and the efforts of the Governors of Progressive Forum in making sure that Nigerians are properly aware of the achievements of his government and the policies.”

The conversation moved quickly from briefing to politics. Uzodimma said the governors referred directly to their campaign outing, which he said would start almost immediately now that Tinubu is back. Leadership and The Nation both reported the same position. That places the Lagos meeting at the start of open APC mobilisation for 2027, well before the formal election calendar opens.

Tinubu, according to accounts of the meeting, told the governors the reform agenda must now move past implementation and public explanation. The test, the President’s side made clear, is whether people feel the policies in daily life, especially on the cost of living.

Uzodimma said the governors had already taken their cue from Tinubu’s recent national broadcast. “The reform policy has moved from implementation to ensuring that the people of Nigeria get the dividends of the reform policy itself,” he said. “So we are not going to only sit here and sing the songs of reform.”

He used Compressed Natural Gas buses as the clearest example. Federal and state programmes have pushed CNG vehicles into the transport system so operators spend less on fuel. Uzodimma said those savings should not stay with the operators. Transporters, he argued, should cut the fares they charge passengers so the benefit reaches commuters. “That way, it becomes a win-win situation,” he said.

He also pointed to state finances. Recalling the period after he became governor, he said Imo struggled at the end of each month once salaries were paid, and sometimes struggled to pay them at all. He said the picture has changed. The state now pays salaries and still funds projects, and he claimed most APC governors are in a similar position, with visible work going on in their states. He tied that shift to Tinubu’s reform policies and higher federation allocations that followed the removal of the fuel subsidy and related fiscal changes.

“We are grateful to Mr President and his reform policies. And we are charged again to ensure the real benefits, that the real beneficiaries of the reform policy are the people. That the masses will feel the impact,” Uzodimma said.

The meeting lands at a sensitive moment. Inflation and transport costs remain the main public complaint against the administration, even as governors argue that state treasuries are healthier. Opposition voices, including the African Democratic Congress campaign council, have already challenged claims that Tinubu rescued the economy, treating them as an attack on the record of the previous APC government. Sunday’s Lagos session did not answer those critics directly. It did set a political line. APC governors will sell the reforms on the street, and they will be judged on whether fares, food prices and household costs actually ease.

No joint communique was released. The only detailed account comes from Uzodimma’s briefing to reporters. The Presidency has not separately listed other attendees or a formal agenda.

For now, the political signal is clear. With Tinubu back from Europe, the Progressive Governors Forum is treating the 2027 campaign as open, and the President wants the argument to rest on what people can see in their pockets, not on speeches about reform.