2027: Renewed Hope group mobilizes students in Abuja and aims for 12 million votes for Tinubu

The Renewed Hope Project 2027, a group supporting the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, rallied one million students in a solidarity march, aiming to garner between 10 and 12 million votes nationwide for the president in the 2027 presidential election.

The group said the students’ solidarity march was aimed at appreciating President Tinubu for creating an enabling environment for more young Nigerian men and women to enroll in school through a conducive policy.

Speaking on Wednesday in Abuja during the “One Million Student Movement” solidarity march from Unity Fountain to Eagle Square, the Director General of the Renewed Hope Project 2027, Hon. Dauda Salisu, said the organization has registered about seven million students on its platform and will use its network of tertiary institutions to mobilize more support for the president.

Salisu said the group has coordinators in institutions across the 36 states of the federation, adding that similar solidarity marches will be organized nationwide.

“We have students in all 36 states of the federation. We have coordinators in all institutions across the country. We will use these coordinators to mobilize students across the nation,” he said.

Regarding the administration’s achievements in the education sector, Salisu cited the ongoing student loan program, saying it attracted support from students who participated in the mobilization.

He also rejected claims that Tinubu’s policies had made education more difficult for students, saying many students were benefiting from the administration’s interventions.

Renewed Hope Project 2027 Board Chairman Major General Abdulmalik Jibrin (rtd) said the mobilization was part of efforts to bring Tinubu’s second term campaign to the grassroots.

Jibrin said the group is particularly highlighting the administration’s interventions in the field of education, including the student loan program run by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).

He urged Nigerians to give Tinubu another chance to govern the country, arguing that greater investment in tertiary institutions and technical education would equip graduates with the skills needed to secure employment and become employers.

In his speech, the group’s national patron, Alhaji Ahmed Mahmoud Mubi, popularly known as Isa Mambila, said the organization had initially registered about 1.789 million students on its platform and was targeting 4.8 million, but recently more students have expressed interest and the target votes have now grown to 10 million nationwide.

According to him, some students who would have dropped out of school due to inability to pay school fees now have the hope of graduating and living a meaningful life, so they came out in droves to appreciate President Tinubu.

NELFUND Chief Executive Officer, Dr Akintunde Sawyerr, also called on Nigerians, especially students, to support Tinubu’s re-election bid, citing the administration’s interventions in the education sector and the student loan programme.

Sawyerr urged students to recognize the opportunities provided through the loan program and other interventions in the education sector as they make their choices for the 2027 elections.

According to data provided by NELFUND, as of September 2026, the Fund had processed approximately 1.66 million student loan applications and disbursed ₦355.87 billion since the opening of its portal in May 2024.

The NELFUND boss said over ₦192.89 billion was paid as institutional fees to 319 tertiary institutions, while ₦162.98 billion was paid directly to students as maintenance allowance.