KEY POINTS

• Tinubu targets 25 paid canvassers per polling unit, totalling 98,325 across Ondo State.
• Each canvasser must convince at least five voters to support Tinubu in 2027.
• Tinubu and Governor Aiyedatiwa will fund canvasser remuneration directly.

President Bola Tinubu’s re-election machinery is moving into Ondo State’s polling units, with the Renewed Hope Ambassadors launching its state chapter Tuesday and announcing a target of 98,325 paid canvassers drawn from all 3,933 polling units across the state.

The Tinubu Renewed Hope Ambassadors Ondo coordinator, Victor Olabimtan, said the structure follows a precise formula: 25 canvassers per polling unit, each expected to convert at least five voters to the President’s side before election day. Multiply that across the state and the group projects a voter mobilisation bloc of nearly half a million people from Ondo alone.

What the ambassadors are expected to do

“The work of winning elections is at the polling units, not at the ward, state or national level,” Olabimtan said at the inauguration in Akure. “The target is for each of the 25 canvassers per unit to mobilise at least five voters. When multiplied across the state and nationwide, victory is assured.”

He confirmed that canvassers will receive payment, with remuneration running three months before the election and two months after, paid directly to individuals rather than through intermediaries. Tinubu and Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa will jointly fund the programme.

Beyond vote canvassing, the Tinubu Renewed Hope Ambassadors Ondo chapter carries a communications brief. Olabimtan, who also chairs the Ondo State Universal Basic Education Board and previously served as Speaker of the state House of Assembly, said the group exists to explain the Renewed Hope Agenda to ordinary Nigerians and relay feedback from communities back to the administration.

Members must reinforce connections with APC structures from the state executive down to ward level, maintain consistent messaging, and help elected officials engage their constituents on federal programmes. Olabimtan said the group would not displace existing Tinubu support organisations in the state but would operate alongside them.

A nationwide structure taking shape

The Ondo launch is one piece of a broader national rollout. Olabimtan said the Renewed Hope Ambassadors covers all 36 states of the federation, each following the same polling unit-level recruitment model.

Membership selection, he said, factored in individual pedigree and track record rather than pure party affiliation.