*OPEN LETTER TO HIS EXCELLENCY, PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU, GCFR: 2 YEARS ON, A CRY FROM THE FORGOTTEN ARCHITECTS OF YOUR 2023 VICTORY*

Your Excellency,

We, the dedicated members of the various APC Support Groups, who initiated and sustained the campaign for your presidency long before you even declared in 2022, address you today with hearts heavy with disillusionment and a profound sense of injustice. This isn’t a letter of disloyalty; our commitment to you and our great party, the APC, remains unwavering. Instead, it’s an important plea for recognition, a demand for justice, and a lament for the forgotten sacrifices that paved your path to Aso Rock.

We vividly recall the nascent days of this journey, back in 2019. With our own meager resources, personal funds, and an unyielding belief in your vision, we began campaigning for Asiwaju for President. While others scoffed, mocked, and dismissed our efforts as the misguided pursuits of jobless people, we traversed the length and breadth of this nation, day and night. We organized countless programs and events, bearing the financial burden of venues, media, transportation, refreshments, and accommodation all from our own pockets. We pooled our sweat and meager savings to produce T-shirts, billboards, and posters, propagating your ambition when many deemed it an impossible dream.

Let us illustrate the depth of our personal sacrifice with a concrete example: The Coalition office at Banex Maitama FCT a crucial hub for our mobilization efforts, cost us ₦5 million to rent in 2022. By the end of last year, the demand for its renewal escalated to a staggering ₦6 million. This is just one instance among countless others, showcasing the severe financial strain and personal burdens shouldered by serious support group leaders like us, all in the service of your ambition.

Crucially, Your Excellency, prior to the 2023 election, our coalition embarked on what we believe was the most ambitious grassroots mobilization in Nigerian history. Registered support groups came together to form presidential voter canvassers (PVC-2023), comprising 3 to 5 individuals per polling unit in 88,000 polling units across 27 states of Nigeria. The factual evidence of this monumental undertaking resides within the Independent Campaign Council (ICC). We meticulously submitted 324,000 unique data entries of our polling unit canvassers, including their names, states, local governments, wards, polling units, voter card details, and phone numbers. Our efforts were formally recognized. We were accepted and given an office to work directly with the Contact and Mobilization Department of the ICC. Our dedicated personnel reported to this office for a full month, working day and night, not for financial gain, but driven by our unwavering interest in your success. This massive operation, involving hundreds of thousands of people, was entirely self-sponsored, costing us personally over ₦30 million, and we didn’t receive a single Naira from you or your campaign. Unfortunately, not one of the support group leaders who spearheaded this unprecedented effort has ever been rewarded. We retain this comprehensive data, should there be any need for clarity or verification.

We were told you were too old, too sick, that you’d never secure the party ticket. Yet, we remained undeterred. Our conviction was fueled not only by our belief in your capacity to lead Nigeria but also by an unshakeable faith that you, Asiwaju, would never forget our efforts. We believed you wouldn’t use and dump those who sacrificed everything for your cause.

But today, the bitter truth is laid bare. The original 90% of those who formed the bedrock of your support groups have been sidelined, neglected, used, and indeed, dumped. While we, who toiled in the trenches, shed blood, sweat, and tears, are now afterthoughts, Presidential Vila has been overrun by online celebrities and fairweather supporters individuals who, by their own admission, had no discernible role in your pre-election struggles. We question their contributions: Where are the pictures of their activities or APC membership before the election? Did they even have polling units, let alone win them for you? Yet, they bask in the glory, enjoying presidential handshakes and proximity, while we, the true architects of your victory, can’t even get near.

This is a usual slap in the face of every support group leader6 who labored tirelessly, and a profound dishonor to those who tragically lost their lives in the process of making you president. We’re witnessing our deserved rewards, recognition, and appointments being handed to newcomers, those who have nothing to lose if the APC were to falter.

Meanwhile, we, who have sacrificed land, cars, and houses, now find it almost impossible to motivate our members, let alone campaign for you. What answer do we give to the opposition when they ask, How has Asiwaju benefited your life for everything you did in the 2023 election? The silence is deafening, and the injustice is crippling.

Your Excellency, we’re not advocating disloyalty, for the APC remains our only political home. However, the palpable unhappiness and bitterness among 90% of the support groups is a dangerous truth that can’t be ignored. We’re not asking for handouts, but for the justice we earned through our unparalleled dedication. We deserve recognition, motivation, and appointments that reflect our undeniable contributions. No support group leader is willing to sell their remaining possessions to fund groups now that our principal is president, especially when our sacrifices are so brazenly overlooked.

Mr. President, we urge you to look into this matter with the urgency and gravity it demands. This dangerous injustice threatens to erode the very foundation of grassroots mobilization that propelled you to power. We implore you to make the necessary adjustments to rectify this grievous wrong. The future of our party, and indeed, the trust of its most dedicated foot soldiers, hangs in the balance.

Respectfully,

_*The Underserved 634 APC Registered Support Groups for 2023 Under THE CAASG.*_

_For The Coalition of All APC SUPPORT GROUPS (CAASG)_

*Hon. Amb. Niyi Adebayo Jnr.*

*NATIONAL COORDINATOR: THE BATIC MOVEMENT*

*Director Of SDGs: YOUTH ASSEMBLY OF NIGERIA, LAGOS STATE CHAPTER.*

*MEMBER: INDEPENDENT CAMPAIGN COUNCIL (ICC SUPPORTS GROUPS & NGO)*

*CONVENER: PRESIDENTIAL VOTERS CANVASSER (PVC-2023)*

*NATIONAL YOUTH LEADER: UNIFIED AMALGAMATED APC SUPPORT GROUPS.*

*D.G: PRESIDENTIAL SUPPORT COUNCIL (PSC)*

*D.G: APC-CNI (APC- COALITION FOR NATIONAL INTEREST)*

*BOT: SEYI TINUBU YOUTH BATTALIONS (STYB)*