Protocols:
It is a pleasure to address this Convention at a moment that demands focus, discipline, and a clear sense of direction. This is a defining hour. This is a moment of reckoning. This is the moment that separates those who hesitate from those who act, those who doubt from those who build.
2. What kind of country do we want to be? A country that retreats at the first sign of difficulty, or a country that confronts its challenges with courage and purpose? A party that follows the easy road, or a party that leads with discipline and direction?
3. We chose the difficult road, and we must remain on it. When this administration came into office, it inherited an economy weighed down by unsustainable commitments, a system stretched by inefficiencies, and a structure that could no longer support the aspirations of the Nigerian people. The choice before us was clear: continue with what was convenient, or confront what was necessary. We chose what was necessary.
4. We chose reform over comfort. We chose responsibility over applause. We chose the future over the present moment.
5. Yes, the critics have spoken. They point to rising costs and economic adjustments. They question the path. But I ask: what was the alternative? To continue a system that drained our resources? To postpone the inevitable? To pass the burden to the next generation?
6. No nation moves forward by avoiding its challenges. No economy grows by ignoring its weaknesses. No leadership succeeds by choosing comfort over correction.
7. Today, the foundations are being reset. Revenues to states have improved. Transparency has increased. Infrastructure is advancing. Security coordination is strengthening. These are not isolated steps. They are part of a clear direction.
8. Reform is not a sprint. Reform is a journey. Reform is a commitment. And that commitment requires continuity.
9. This is why I say that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu must continue this work beyond 2027. Not for sentiment. Not for convenience. But because the work has begun, and it must be completed. Because the foundation has been laid, and it must be built upon. Because the path has been chosen, and it must be sustained.
10. And if we are to sustain that path, continuity must not be limited to the executive alone. It must extend to the legislature.
11. Mr. President, Your Excellencies, our Governors, I make this appeal with urgency. As we commit to continuity at the executive level, we must also secure stability within the legislature. The high turnover of Senators and Members over the years has come at a cost to governance, to lawmaking, and to public resources spent on constant training and retraining. Experience is lost. Institutional memory is weakened. Momentum is broken.
12. We cannot continue to start every cycle afresh and expect consistent progress. The legislature is not separate from this journey. It is a partner in it. We legislate for the same reforms. We oversee the same programmes. We defend the same national interest. I therefore urge deliberate efforts to support the return of committed and performing legislators, so that together, the executive and the legislature can sustain this path and complete the work we have begun.
13. This is the discipline of progress. This is how nations move forward without losing ground. We cannot change direction in the middle of the journey. We cannot abandon progress halfway. We cannot trade certainty for uncertainty.
14. Our task as a party is clear. We must translate strength into results. We must translate policy into impact. We must translate leadership into trust.
15. Where we govern, we must deliver. Where we lead, we must show results. Where we stand, we must stand together.
16. The North-West stands today as a clear example of our strength. United under our party, it reflects confidence, structure, and direction. But strength brings responsibility. What we have gained must be sustained. What we have built must be strengthened. What we have achieved must be expanded.
17. Let me assure you, Mr. President, the North-West will not falter. We understand the weight of this moment. We will organise. We will mobilise. We will deliver the block votes. The same applies across every zone where our party holds ground. This is not the time for division. This is the time for unity. This is the time for action.
18. To those who will emerge as the next leaders of our party, I extend my congratulations in advance. Your emergence will reflect the party’s confidence in your competence and capacity to lead at this moment. Our great party is large and still growing, with depth, diversity, and rising expectations. With that strength comes scrutiny. There are those who expect us to fracture. There are those who hope we will implode under the weight of our own size. That must not happen.
19. It must be prevented through careful management, disciplined coordination, and constant engagement. Integrating both long-standing and new members, maintaining unity, and managing competing interests will require steady leadership. You must organise with clarity. You must engage with purpose. You must mobilise with consistency.
20. And to our young people, the future must be claimed. To our women, your role remains central. To our communities, your voice matters. Our goal remains clear: to build a party that listens, a government that responds, and a country that works.
21. The road ahead will demand discipline and sacrifice. But it will reward consistency, courage, and commitment. History remembers those who stood firm and built for the future.
22. Let us be remembered as that generation.
23. Let us be remembered as the party that chose reform, sustained it, and delivered results.
24. Let us be remembered as the leaders who stood together and moved this country forward.
25. The moment is here. The responsibility is ours. The future is within reach.
26. I thank you and may God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
