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2027: Gbenga Hashim's Accord Party Pulls "Mammoth Crowd" at Dawaki, Abaji Rallies
Accord Party presidential aspirant Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim addressing a sea of supporters at his rally in Dawaki, Abuja, on June 4, 2026.
While the APC and PDP tear themselves apart over zoning and tickets, one man in a bright yellow polo is quietly building a movement in the suburbs of the Federal Capital Territory. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, the Accord Party's presidential flagbearer, took his campaign to Dawaki and Abaji on June 4, and what he found there — or rather, what turned up for him — has forced political watchers to recalibrate their assumptions about who is serious in the 2027 race.
The images that emerged from the rallies tell their own story. Hundreds of supporters, women and children among them, packed under white canopy tents, a sea of yellow "HASHIM FOR PRESIDENT" shirts and caps stretching into the afternoon sun. Banners read "KUJE" and "ABAJI AREA COUNCIL" — not the kind of glossy, national-convention branding that dominates the news cycle, but the specific, granular language of local government mobilisation. Hashim himself, visibly energised, told the crowd that the turnout proved Accord Party members across the FCT had delivered during the recent primaries. The message was simple: we are here, we are organised, and we are not waiting for anyone's permission.
Why a Rally in Dawaki Matters
The significance of Hashim's FCT showing lies less in the crowd size — though it was impressive — and more in the strategy it reveals. First, he is running an early grassroots campaign at a time when the larger parties are still trapped in internal negotiations. While the APC and PDP are holding meetings in air-conditioned rooms, Accord is holding rallies under the sun. Second, the deliberate targeting of area councils — Kuje, Abaji, Dawaki — rather than the elite districts of Maitama or Asokoro, signals a campaign that understands the mathematics of the FCT vote. Third, the visual politics are unmistakable. The yellow wave, the branded shirts, the canopy-tent aesthetic: it is all designed for the smartphone screen, for the WhatsApp group, for the viral share that bypasses traditional media gatekeepers entirely.
The Accord Party's Quiet Playbook
Hashim, a former PDP presidential aspirant who broke away to pitch his tent with Accord, is framing his candidacy as a clean break from "recycled politicians." His campaign leans heavily on direct youth engagement, suburban rather than city-centre organising, and the use of concluded party primaries as proof that Accord is ready while others are still squabbling. It is a pitch designed for voters who are exhausted by the two dominant parties but have been waiting for a credible third option to emerge.
The next test is whether the FCT template can be replicated in the states that ring the capital — Nasarawa, Niger, and Kogi. If Hashim can own the "Abuja corridor," a densely populated and symbolically significant swathe of the country, he becomes a figure that cannot be ignored in the coalition negotiations that will inevitably precede 2027. For now, the images from Dawaki and Abaji have done what they were meant to do: they have made people look. The rest of the campaign will determine whether they keep looking.
Stay tuned to Unuevbo TV for more on the 2027 presidential race and the third‑force movements reshaping the political landscape.
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