At a press briefing in Abuja, the All Progressives Congress began laying the groundwork for the next presidential contest by turning to a constituency that often goes overlooked in domestic politics: Nigerians in the diaspora. The party’s Presidential Campaign Council Directorate of Diaspora Mobilisation, led by Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, announced an ambitious strategy to rally support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027 and, in the same breath, to counter the negative narratives that have circulated about Nigeria and the current administration. The message was both practical and emotional. Dabiri-Erewa described Nigerians abroad as “not outsiders” but stakeholders in the country’s future, and she outlined a five-point plan that blends digital advocacy, chapter-by-chapter organising, fundraising, voter education and rapid-response communications. The underlying goal is to harness the skills, resources and networks of more than 17 million Nigerians living overseas and turn them into a formidable campaign force. With a tone that acknowledged the pain of recent reforms while insisting on their necessity, she framed the coming years as a choice between superficial comfort and lasting repair. The briefing signaled that the party is aware of the scale of the challenge: disinformation, economic hardship and voter apathy are not problems that can be solved from Abuja alone. Instead, the APC is looking to diaspora doctors, nurses, engineers, traders and students to help carry a different message home. The directorate’s work, she made clear, would not be limited to party loyalists. It would be inclusive, reaching out to Nigerians abroad who are not APC members but who believe in the country’s potential and want to participate in shaping its direction. In that sense, the announcement was less about a narrow election machine and more about building a broad coalition of people who have one foot in Nigeria and one foot in the wider world.
Dabiri-Erewa spent considerable time explaining why the diaspora matters so much. For too long, she suggested, Nigerians living abroad have been treated as distant relatives who send money and then are forgotten. But the reality is far more significant. They are, she argued, important stakeholders in national development. Their remittances, investments, professional expertise and influence within their host communities make them essential partners in any serious effort to transform Nigeria. She cited the staggering figure of over twenty billion dollars sent home annually in remittances, money that sustains families, pays school fees, funds small businesses and supports healthcare expenses across the country. Beyond the money, the diaspora is a reservoir of talent and experience. Nigerians abroad are doctors, nurses, engineers, students, traders, innovators and community leaders. They have built careers in some of the most competitive environments in the world, and many of them are eager to contribute to their homeland if given a credible channel to do so. Their investments already touch critical sectors, including healthcare, education, food businesses and information and communications technology. But perhaps just as important as the financial and professional contributions is the role they can play in shaping perceptions. Nigerians abroad talk to their families and communities back home. They are trusted sources of information. When they speak about what is actually happening in Nigeria, their words carry weight in ways that official government statements sometimes do not. The directorate’s strategy, therefore, is built on the idea that these everyday conversations can be transformed into a powerful communication network. If diaspora Nigerians understand the government’s policies and believe in the direction the country is taking, they can become credible ambassadors who help their relatives and friends see beyond the headlines of hardship and crisis. This is not just about winning an election. It is about changing the national conversation and restoring a measure of hope.
The first phase of the strategy is organisational. The directorate plans to harmonise and activate APC diaspora chapters across a wide range of countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, Australia, Turkey, India and Kazakhstan. These chapters will serve as the grassroots base of the campaign abroad, hosting events, coordinating volunteers and building relationships with local communities. But the outreach will not be limited to APC members. The directorate explicitly wants to bring in Nigerians who are not affiliated with the party but are willing to support the campaign because they believe in the reforms and want to see continuity. This inclusive approach is intended to broaden the coalition and avoid the trap of preaching only to the converted. The second component is a digital advocacy initiative tagged “Operation Tell Your Story.” This is where the campaign gets creative. Nigerians in the diaspora will receive short videos, infographics and other communication materials that highlight the administration’s policies and achievements. These materials are designed to be easily shared on social media, WhatsApp and other platforms where diaspora communities are already active. The content will focus on areas such as foreign exchange reforms, foreign reserves, support for small businesses, housing programmes and opportunities for students. The goal is not to bombard people with propaganda but to give them accurate, digestible information that they can use in their own conversations. The name “Tell Your Story” is telling: it asks ordinary Nigerians to take ownership of the narrative about their country. Instead of allowing critics and cynics to define Nigeria’s reality, the campaign hopes to empower diaspora Nigerians to speak from experience and share the positive developments that are often ignored. This digital army, if mobilised effectively, could reach millions of people around the world, countering the negativity that dominates online discussions about Nigeria.
The economic dimension of the campaign was handled with unusual frankness. Dabiri-Erewa did not pretend that everything was going smoothly. She acknowledged the hardship associated with the removal of the fuel subsidy, a policy that has caused pain for millions of Nigerians. But she defended the decision as necessary to reform an economy that had been built on unsustainable foundations. Her phrase was memorable: President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has decided not to manage our feelings, but to fix the system. In her view, it takes a bold leader to make such difficult choices, and the alternative would have been to continue down a path of deepening structural weakness. She also addressed the foreign exchange reforms, another source of controversy. Nigerians abroad, she argued, understand the old system better than most. They know what it was like to watch the naira’s value distort economic decisions, to struggle with multiple exchange rates, and to see corruption thrive in the gap between official and parallel markets. Because they have lived and worked in countries with stable currencies, they can help explain to people at home why the reforms are necessary and why the current pain is part of a longer transition. She urged Nigerians to monitor how state and local governments deploy the increased revenues that followed the removal of the subsidy. This was an important call for accountability. The reforms were never meant to enrich the federal government alone; they were meant to free up resources that could be invested in infrastructure, education, healthcare and social programmes. If citizens at all levels hold their leaders accountable, she suggested, the sacrifices made today could yield a more prosperous future. The campaign’s economic message, then, is not simply defensive. It is an appeal to patience and understanding, anchored in the belief that the country is going through a necessary period of adjustment that will eventually produce tangible benefits. Whether voters accept that argument will depend on whether they begin to see improvements in their daily lives, but the directorate is clearly preparing to make the case forcefully.
The third component of the strategy is fundraising. The directorate plans to mobilise diaspora contributions through structured platforms that support campaign activities, voter education materials, town hall meetings and grassroots mobilisation. This is a delicate area, and Dabiri-Erewa emphasised transparency and accountability. The aim is to encourage Nigerians abroad who wish to contribute to national development to do so through organised channels, rather than through ad hoc or opaque arrangements. The fourth component focuses on voter registration awareness and homecoming mobilisation. Nigerians in the diaspora will be encouraged to remind their eligible family members and community residents to register, collect their Permanent Voter Cards and participate in elections. There is also an explicit call for diaspora Nigerians to return home, engage with their communities and involve themselves directly in the political process. This is more than a practical instruction; it is an emotional appeal to reconnect with roots and take part in shaping the country’s future. The fifth component is perhaps the most urgent: countering misinformation. Dabiri-Erewa announced that the directorate would establish a rapid-response mechanism to address false or misleading narratives about Nigeria and the Tinubu administration. She described the directorate as a rapid-response hub that would provide credible data, fact-check claims and promote positive narratives about Nigeria’s investment climate, economic stabilisation and future prospects. In an era when lies can spread faster than the truth, this is an acknowledgement that the government cannot afford to be passive. The directorate will work with diaspora organisations, traditional institutions and community leaders to strengthen engagement between Nigerians abroad and their communities at home. She also raised the long-debated issue of diaspora voting, calling on the National Assembly to consider amending the Constitution to enable Nigerians living abroad to vote in Nigerian elections. She acknowledged that diaspora voting remains a subject of debate, but expressed hope that the legislature would address it in the future. If that happens, the political influence of the diaspora would become even more significant, transforming them from advocates into direct participants in elections.
Finally, the briefing touched on the broader vision behind the campaign. Dabiri-Erewa disclosed that the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission had established a data portal to register Nigerians living abroad, with the estimated diaspora population now placed at more than seventeen million. This database could become a valuable tool for communication, engagement and mobilisation. Other members of the directorate who spoke at the briefing expressed support for the administration’s economic policies, acknowledging the hardship associated with the reforms but arguing that their intended benefits would take time to materialise. They highlighted opportunities for Nigerians in the diaspora to contribute through investments, skills transfer, business partnerships and closer collaboration with government institutions. The tone was not triumphalist, but rather determined. There was a recognition that the road ahead is difficult and that the government has lost some public trust, especially among younger Nigerians who are struggling with unemployment and the high cost of living. Yet the underlying message was one of continuity and hope. The campaign will focus on national development and the administration’s stated goal of moving Nigeria from reforms to prosperity. Dabiri-Erewa urged the media to partner with the directorate in communicating its activities, because the success of this effort depends on reaching people where they are and telling the story in a way that resonates with their lives. Whether the strategy will work is an open question, but the announcement makes clear that the APC is not taking the diaspora for granted. In a country where politics is often dominated by ethnic and regional calculations, this campaign represents an attempt to build a national coalition that extends beyond borders. It is a reminder that Nigeria’s future is tied to the millions of citizens who left in search of opportunity, and that their energy, expertise and resources can be part of the country’s renewal. The challenge now is to move from plans to action, and to convince both Nigerians at home and abroad that the sacrifices of the present will lead to a brighter, more stable and more prosperous tomorrow.