{
  "id": 19556812,
  "title": "Campaign: Stop following Tinubu around, focus on grassroots, Kalu tells APC leaders",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/11/campaign-stop-following-tinubu-around-focus-on-grassroots-kalu-tells",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-11T20:02:47.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Daily Trust",
    "slug": "daily-trust",
    "url": "https://dailytrust.com/campaign-stop-following-tinubu-around-focus-on-grassroots-kalu-tells-apc-leaders/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Former Abia Governor Orji Uzor Kalu, speaking from Abakaliki in Ebonyi State, has urged political leaders to focus on grassroots mobilisation in the APC presidential campaign. Kalu argued that President Bola Tinubu should attend rallies with a minimal entourage and that other leaders should return to their respective constituencies to engage with voters directly. Talking to journalists, Kalu suggested that Tinubu should move with a small team, while other party leaders should reconnect with voters in their local areas.\n\nAn APC chieftain in Ebonyi, Chief Abia Onyike, endorsed Kalu's stance, stating that the practice of following candidates around contradicts the aim of connecting with voters. Onyike recommended that leaders present their own manifestoes and policies to voters, instead of relying on large following crowds.\n\nLabour leader Mr Leo Nkah echoed a similar sentiment, cautioning politicians against neglecting their electoral duties while accompanying presidential candidates. Nkah argued that politicians who accompany leaders during campaigns were, in fact, shirking their responsibilities to mobilise supporters at the grassroots level.",
  "summary": "Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, lawmaker representing Abia North Senatorial District, has called for a leaner presidential campaign team, urging political leaders to mobilise voters at grassroots level. Kalu, a former governor of Abia made the call in a statement issued to journalists in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State capital, on Wednesday. He asked political leaders to concentrate […]",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}