Obayendo Declares Transporters Ready for 2027 as Coalition Unveils National Structure

Prince Segun Obayendo, National Coordinator of the Transporters for Tinubu/Shettima 2027 coalition, has led a delegation of transport union leaders to the Tinubu Support Group (TSG) in Abuja, where he declared the sector’s readiness to deliver a decisive electoral victory in 2027.

Obayendo, who also serves as Technical Adviser to the Vice President on Transportation, Logistics and Innovation, was blunt about the coalition’s ambitions. For the first time in Nigeria’s political history, its unions have united as a single, coordinated force; and they intend to make that force count.

“This is the high time we let not just our party APC, but the whole world know the strength we possess, the structure we have, and the operational sagacity we possess,” Obayendo told the TSG leadership. “We want to work as a collective block and deliver the collective block that we are capable of delivering.”

Obayendo was candid about the sector’s history. Since 1999, transport unions have engaged with political groups individually, and the result has been limited dividends for an industry that moves the nation’s people and goods. That approach, he argued, is now over.

“Our kind of structure is once we say from the top, go, there’s no looking back,” he said, describing the sector’s discipline as akin to a military command. “The goal is 2027. No vacancy in Aso Rock.”

He was equally explicit about the coalition’s readiness. A robust database of members across all 774 local governments is already in place. Coordinators at zonal, state, and local levels are being activated. And the voters register is being studied with surgical precision.

“As we speak to you, we are already convening,” he said. “We are already working with the voters register. We have already identified all our members across the 774 local governments, and we are already pinning down on them and ensuring that they do not go the other way.”

The delegation was drawn from the highest echelons of Nigeria’s transport sector. Present at the meeting were Alhaji (Dr.) Musa Mohammed, National President of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN); Alhaji Yusuf Lawal Othman, National President of the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO); Alhaji (Amb.) Prince Adebayo Samsudeen Apelogun, National President of the Amalgamated Commercial Motorcycle, Tricycle Repairers and Riders Association of Nigeria (ACOMORAN); and Comrade Augustine Apeh, National President of the Tricycle Owners Association of Nigeria (TOAN). Joining them were leaders representing the pipeline, aviation, and rail sectors, underscoring the coalition’s cross-industry reach.

Obayendo was quick to acknowledge these veterans in the room, leaders who have spent decades in the transport trenches, whose influence spans regions and generations. He also noted the absence of some unions, including the Maritime Workers Union, framing it not as a gap but as evidence of the coalition’s wider reach.

The visit also served as a formal invitation. On September 7, the coalition will inaugurate its national structure at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, an event that will officially unveil its 774 local government coordinators, 36 state coordinators, zonal coordinators, and National Working Committee.

“We felt that if nobody would be there, it wouldn’t be TSG,” Obayendo said. “And I know TSG will be there to also attest to what we are laying claims to right now and to also attest to the fact that, indeed, the transporters are united.”

Dr. Umar Tanko Yakasai, Director General of the Tinubu Support Group, welcomed the delegation with equal candor. He acknowledged the significance of the visit, describing it as timely and deeply symbolic.

“People who control votes are the people to be visited,” Yakasai said. “So we ought to be going to individuals and then collectively to converse for support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. But because you believe in the President, still did, that’s why you had the humility to plan and come and visit as you do.”

Yakasai was also direct about the sector’s grievances. He acknowledged that some promises to transport workers have yet to be fully delivered, and he urged patience while pledging to convey the coalition’s concerns to the appropriate quarters, particularly through the Presidential Campaign Council.

“I want to assure you that once the Campaign Council is inaugurated and powers vested in them, then all these reminders will be rightly addressed,” he said.

He then pointed to the strategic importance of the transport sector in election planning and monitoring, noting that the coalition’s reach extends into every community, market, and polling unit, making it an indispensable partner for 2027.

“The best place for this vast network that you have, massive voters that you have to utilize, also rightly fall within our own hall, which is the directorate of Election Planning and Monitoring,” he said. “If the work is to monitor, you have to monitor up to the polling unit.”

The Transporters for Tinubu/Shettima 2027 coalition was formally inaugurated on June 15, 2026, by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the State House. It unites over 20 million transport workers across road, rail, maritime, aviation, pipeline, and logistics sectors.

The courtesy visit to the Tinubu Support Group marks another step in consolidating that support. With a national structure set to be unveiled in September, and a growing network of coordinators at every level, the coalition is positioning itself as a decisive force in the electoral landscape ahead.

The meeting ended on a note of cautious optimism, with both sides expressing commitment to collaboration. For Obayendo and his team, the message was simple: the transporters are ready, united, and determined to deliver.

“On June 15, we were at the villa,” he recalled. “We were inaugurated by the vice president of our country right there. And since then, we’ve been on the road. And that’s rounding up the first reason why we are here.”

The second reason, of course, was the invitation for September 7. The third will be written at the ballot box.

By Olusemire Jegede