Reported by Musa Antiketu,| Journalist at Obaland magazine.
As political activities intensify ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 general elections, the campaign for the governorship of Gombe State is increasingly shifting from online messaging to grassroots organisation, with the camp of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Dr Jamilu Isyaku Gwamna, stressing that electoral victory will ultimately be determined at polling units.
The position reflects a broader argument emerging among political actors across Nigeria: while social media has become an important platform for political communication, voter mobilisation, party organisation and physical presence at polling units remain critical to translating political popularity into actual votes.
The Gombe APC governorship campaign has consequently placed considerable emphasis on reaching voters at ward, local government and polling-unit levels as the party prepares for the 2027 contest.
Gwamna emerged as the APC’s governorship candidate after the party’s direct primary in May 2026. According to results reported by THISDAY, he secured 247,161 votes, defeating former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, who polled 12,120 votes, and former Minister of Transportation, Senator Said Ahmed Alkali, who received 11,612 votes. The primary covered the state’s 11 local government areas.
The emergence of Gwamna has since been followed by a series of efforts to consolidate the APC’s political structure across Gombe, including reconciliation initiatives, stakeholder meetings and grassroots mobilisation programmes.
From Online Influence to Electoral Ground Game
The argument that elections cannot be won solely through social media is not peculiar to Gombe.
Across Nigeria’s political landscape, party leaders and candidates have repeatedly highlighted the importance of physical mobilisation, voter registration, polling-unit agents and direct engagement with communities.
In June, APC Deputy National Chairman (South), Ben Nwoye, made a similar argument while discussing the outcome of the Ekiti State governorship election. Speaking on ARISE News, Nwoye said political actors needed to build support on the ground rather than depend primarily on online popularity or television appearances. The Sun reported that he argued democracy is ultimately exercised by voters at polling units.
The observation is particularly relevant in Nigeria, where internet access and social-media participation do not necessarily correspond with voting behaviour. Political discussions online can generate considerable attention, but elections are ultimately conducted through physical voting processes administered at designated polling units.
For the Gombe APC, therefore, the challenge ahead is not simply to generate online visibility for its candidate but to establish an effective organisation capable of converting political support into lawful participation on election day.
Gwamna’s Campaign Targets Gombe’s Polling Units
The emphasis on grassroots politics has already become visible in the activities surrounding Gwamna’s campaign.
In June, the APC governorship candidate launched the Jamilu Renewed Hope Movement, a political structure designed to mobilise support throughout Gombe ahead of the 2027 elections.
P.M. News reported that the movement’s state coordinator, Ibrahim Umar Babangida, said the organisation intended to reach all 2,988 polling units in Gombe State.
Babangida described the initiative as a grassroots-driven structure focused on building support for Gwamna and other APC candidates. Gwamna, in his own remarks, also underscored the importance of grassroots organisation to electoral success.
The figure of 2,988 polling units provides an indication of the scale of the organisational task facing political parties in the state.
Reaching thousands of polling units requires more than campaign rallies. It involves recruiting and training party agents, identifying eligible voters, monitoring electoral procedures, maintaining communication structures and ensuring that voters understand the electoral process.
For any political organisation seeking a statewide victory, the polling unit represents the point where campaign promises, party structures and voter sentiment eventually meet.
Stakeholders Push Reconciliation and Grassroots Organisation
Beyond campaign structures, political reconciliation has also emerged as a significant component of the APC’s strategy in Gombe.
A group of prominent Gombe stakeholders recently endorsed Gwamna and constituted a reconciliation committee to engage aspirants who contested the APC governorship primary and their supporters.
The Independent reported that the committee was established to strengthen party unity and improve cohesion ahead of the 2027 election. The stakeholders also resolved to intensify mobilisation across local government areas, wards and polling units while promoting voter registration and civic participation.
Similarly, The Nation reported that prominent Gombe stakeholders endorsed Gwamna and approved political and technical directorates responsible for stakeholder engagement, policy development, research, mobilisation and strategic communication.
The forum also resolved to intensify grassroots mobilisation and encourage issue-based politics based on competence, integrity, inclusiveness and evidence-based planning.
These developments suggest that the APC’s strategy is not limited to campaign publicity. The party is attempting to build a network extending from senior political stakeholders to local structures and individual polling units.
Social Media Still Matters
While the APC candidate’s camp has emphasised the importance of physical mobilisation, dismissing social media entirely would overlook the changing nature of political communication in Nigeria.
Social media platforms have become important spaces for candidates to communicate policies, respond to criticism, reach young voters, distribute campaign materials and shape public narratives.
The 2023 elections demonstrated the enormous influence of digital platforms on political mobilisation and public debate. Academic research has also examined the role of social media in political mobilisation during the Gombe governorship election, underscoring that digital communication can influence political awareness and participation.
The important distinction, therefore, is not necessarily between social media and grassroots politics but between online visibility and actual electoral organisation.
A candidate can have millions of views online without possessing sufficient polling-unit structures. Conversely, a candidate with a comparatively modest digital profile may possess a strong network of local political organisers and loyal voters.
Successful campaigns increasingly need both.
Social media can create awareness, while grassroots structures can facilitate voter engagement. Digital platforms can communicate a candidate’s message, while local organisers can explain that message directly to communities. Online mobilisation can encourage political participation, but the ballot is still cast physically at the polling unit.
Electoral Rules Make Polling Units Central
The importance of polling units also has a legal and institutional dimension.
Nigeria’s electoral process places substantial importance on polling-unit results as the foundation of result collation. Recent discussions surrounding electronic transmission of election results have further highlighted the significance of what happens at the polling-unit level.
Punch reported that Senate President Godswill Akpabio described polling-unit results as fundamental to the collation process while discussing provisions for electronic transmission with manual backup ahead of the 2027 elections.
The debate over electronic transmission has focused partly on ensuring that results recorded at polling units can be transmitted and tracked more efficiently.
This means that political parties preparing for 2027 have to consider not only campaign messaging but also election-day organisation.
Agents must understand electoral procedures. Parties must maintain communication channels. Voters must be informed about where and how to vote. Campaigns must also operate within the boundaries of Nigeria’s electoral laws.
For Gombe’s political contenders, the ability to establish credible structures across polling units could therefore become an important component of their electoral strategy.
Gombe’s 2027 Contest Takes Shape
The Gombe governorship race is already attracting significant political attention.
The APC’s choice of Gwamna followed a competitive primary in which several prominent politicians sought the party’s ticket. His victory subsequently triggered political developments involving supporters of other aspirants.
The situation surrounding former minister Isa Pantami has also demonstrated the political sensitivity of the contest. In May, TheCable Fact Check debunked a viral video falsely presented as showing Pantami crying over an alleged denial of the APC governorship ticket.
According to the fact-check, the footage showing Pantami crying was actually taken from an Islamic teaching session in 2024, while other images used in the viral material came from a separate political event.
The episode illustrates another dimension of the 2027 campaign: the increasing role of social media in shaping political narratives and the need for journalists, political organisations and voters to verify information before accepting or distributing viral claims.
For political parties, this makes digital communication both an opportunity and a challenge.
The Voter Will Remain Central
Ultimately, the most important element of any election remains the voter.
Political parties can establish campaign structures, appoint coordinators, organise rallies and dominate social-media conversations, but electoral victory depends on voters participating and expressing their preferences through the ballot.
That reality makes voter education and civic participation particularly important as Nigeria approaches another general election cycle.
The APC’s emphasis on grassroots mobilisation in Gombe therefore fits into a wider national conversation about how political parties should prepare for 2027.
For Gwamna and his supporters, the immediate task will be to translate the candidate’s political support into a functioning statewide organisation while maintaining party unity and engaging communities on substantive issues.
For opposition parties and other political actors, the same challenge applies.
The 2027 election will not be decided by online popularity alone. Neither, however, should the influence of digital communication be underestimated.
The decisive question will be whether political messages can move beyond screens and translate into informed voter participation, credible grassroots organisation and lawful electoral competition.
In Gombe, the APC candidate’s camp has made its strategy clear: build from the polling unit upward.
Whether that strategy will deliver victory in 2027 remains a matter for voters to determine at the ballot box.
For now, the political lesson is straightforward: social media may shape the conversation, but the polling unit determines the vote.
Sources
Gombe APC governorship candidate Jamilu Gwamna’s camp emphasises grassroots mobilisation and polling-unit structures as key to winning the 2027 governorship election.
![Subscribe to Obaland Magazine](<a href="/advertise"> <img src="https://yourwebsite.com/path-to-ad.jpg" alt="Advertise with us" width="300" height="250"> </a>){kind=link}