The South West Mandate Group for Asiwaju (SWMG), has urged the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to reconsider the appointment of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as the North-East Zonal Coordinator of the party’s 2027 Presidential Campaign Council.
SWMG acknowledged that Sheriff has denied allegations linked to aspects of his political history and stressed that allegations should not be presented as established facts in the absence of a conviction.
In a statement by its Chairman, Adebayo Johnson, the group said its position was based on strategic, reputational and political-communication considerations rather than any determination of criminal guilt against Sheriff.
SWMG noted that senior campaign officials inevitably become part of the public face of a presidential candidate and that their histories, reputations and public standing can consequently affect the campaign they represent.
Johnson said its position is not a determination of criminal guilt against Senator Sheriff, who has denied the allegations made against him over the years.
He said: “Our concern is whether the appointment is strategically capable of strengthening the President’s campaign at a time when the APC should be concentrating on its message, achievements and engagement with voters.
“In electoral politics, the absence of a criminal conviction does not automatically eliminate reputational or political risk. A campaign must consider not only what can be established in a court of law, but also whether the public profile of its senior officials will help or hinder its ability to communicate effectively with voters.
“SWMG believes that the verdict of the court of public opinion deserves serious consideration by the APC leadership.”
According to SWMG, the public debate surrounding Sheriff has over the years included references to the Galtimari Committee, political developments in Borno State during the period associated with the emergence of Boko Haram, allegations concerning the insurgency and reports of investigations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Johnson stresses that allegations must not be presented as established findings and that Senator Sheriff’s denials must equally be acknowledged.
He argues that the continuing public controversy itself constitutes a legitimate campaign-management consideration.
The group said the issue was particularly sensitive in the North-East, which had suffered significant human and economic consequences from the insurgency, including deaths, displacement and destruction of livelihoods.
He added, “SWMG believes that campaign appointments in the region require particular sensitivity to public confidence and political perception. The 2027 presidential campaign will require the APC to communicate effectively on issues including security, economic opportunity, employment, infrastructure, education, food security and the administration’s record.
“The campaign officials should reinforce those messages rather than create circumstances in which the campaign is repeatedly drawn into controversies concerning individual members of its leadership structure.
“Political capital is too valuable to be spent unnecessarily defending campaign appointments when the campaign should be communicating its record and vision to Nigerians.”
Johnson said this is particularly important because opposition parties and political actors will inevitably scrutinise every senior figure associated with the campaign.
He urges the APC leadership to back down on Senator Sheriff’s continued role in the 2027 Presidential Campaign Council.
The group believes such appointments represent a strategic and reputational catastrophe that has the potential effect on public confidence; implications for grassroots mobilisation; distract the APC’s campaign message; and cast reputations of President Tinubu and the Renewed Hope campaign in bad light.
SWMG further recommends that the APC adopt a consistent vetting framework for senior campaign appointments, taking into account political experience, public standing, communication capacity, grassroots reach and reputational exposure.
The group said its intervention is specifically aimed at protecting the legacy of President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and its interest in ensuring that the campaign architecture is capable of effectively communicating its success to Nigerians.
“The credibility of a presidential campaign is inseparable from the credibility of the people entrusted to represent it. Every appointment should therefore be judged by the value it adds to the campaign and the risks it introduces,” he said
Johnson urged the APC leadership to appoint other political gladiators from the region with both integrity and greater capacity to promote its 2027 campaign structure.