Vice President Kashim Shettima used roads, farm support and security investments to make a case for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 2027 re-election campaign at an All Progressives Congress (APC) rally in Abakaliki on Nov. 9.
He cast the initiatives as support for market access, food security and business activity, but the rally coverage presented no regional measures to quantify economic or security outcomes.
Shettima cited the Calabar–Ebonyi–Benue–Kogi–Nasarawa–Abuja Superhighway, Ndibe Bridge and other roads as ways to ease the movement of farm produce and manufactured goods. He also listed fertilizer distribution, FarmerMoni assistance, grants, employment and digital-skills programs. The rally reports gave no grant totals or breakdowns of recipients.
Voice of Nigeria reported Sept. 26 that project controller Maxwell Oko described Section One as about 123 kilometers long, with work 39.33% complete. The same report said Works Minister David Umahi called for contractors to open at least three work fronts on Section Two and intensify construction there.
On security, Shettima said conditions in the South-East had changed under Tinubu. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported in July that the chief of army staff said Tinubu approved a Nigerian Army recruits depot at Amasiri-Edda. The chief said 3,000 recruits were expected to graduate from the depot, within a target of 28,000 across three depots. The rally coverage offered no regional indicators to assess Shettima’s security claim.
The South-East Development Commission, established by law, is another part of Shettima’s pitch. Federal records say its board was inaugurated in February 2025, and the commission lists the South East Vision 2050 Regional Stakeholder Forum as held in Enugu on Feb. 3-6. The commission’s establishing law assigns it a regional development role that includes infrastructure and environmental challenges, and refers to damage caused by the civil war.
Shettima linked the projects to better market access, food security and business opportunities. The rally coverage did not assess project costs or identify who would bear them. He urged voters to support Tinubu and the APC in 2027, extending a campaign appeal that included an earlier Nasarawa pitch focused on transport needs.
