Hon. Akinjide Kazeem Akinola: Grassroots Builder, Community Investor, and Deputy Director of Grassroots Engagement for the 2027 APC Presidential Campaign Council
8/30/20263 min read
Hon. Akinjide Kazeem Akinola, a retired Captain of the Nigerian Army, Ibadan-born businessman, and All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, has built his public profile around consistent community work in Egbeda/Ona-Ara Federal Constituency rather than waiting for elective office. In August 2026 he was named Deputy Director of Grassroots Engagement and Mobilisation on the APC 2027 Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), a role that aligns with years of ward-level organising, philanthropy through the AKA Foundation, and party-unification efforts in Oyo State.
Born in November 1982, Akinola is an Abuja-based entrepreneur who returned formally to the APC in December 2023 after a brief period outside the party following the 2023 primaries. He has repeatedly framed politics as service first: “Politics should not only be about elections or positions. My passion has always been about service to the people.” That line, delivered after he stepped down in the 2026 APC House of Representatives primary in support of incumbent Hon. Akin Alabi, captured his approach. He continued community projects even after the ticket contest ended.
Grassroots work and projects in Egbeda/Ona-Ara
Akinola’s interventions have concentrated on education, lighting, water, welfare, and party cohesion across the two local governments that make up the federal constituency.
Education and youth access
The AKA Foundation’s free JAMB/UTME programme began in 2022 with 150 candidates and grew to 200 (2023), 300 (2024), and 400 (2025 and 2026). Forms are split evenly between Egbeda and Ona-Ara, accompanied by tutorials and scholarships for high performers. In September 2025 the foundation added a N12.5 million Back-to-School package: N50,000 each for 250 parents to cover fees and materials. Akinola has described education as the most reliable route to constituency development.
Infrastructure and security
In May 2026 he launched “Light Up Ona-Ara,” a plan to install more than 350 solar-powered streetlights. Phase I targets communities in Ona-Ara Local Government; Phase II is slated for Egbeda. The project is presented as a response to night-time insecurity and stalled evening commerce. He has also funded motorized and solar boreholes and other water interventions as part of a wider social-investment list that includes youth and women empowerment and health support.
Welfare and crisis response
At Christmas 2025 he distributed 400 bags of rice, cash, rams, and cattle through party offices and wards, directed at vulnerable households. In August 2024 he donated N2 million to victims of a fire at Hope area, Alakia, and urged affected traders to inventory losses so further help could be coordinated. He regularly hosts Eid and unity gatherings at his country home in Egbeda, bringing together party leaders, traditional rulers, religious figures, and stakeholders from beyond the constituency.
These activities predate his 2027 PCC appointment and continued after he withdrew from the House race. Stakeholders in Ona-Ara have cited the combination of solar lighting, school support, boreholes, and empowerment schemes when endorsing him and arguing for rotational representation (Ona-Ara’s turn after long Egbeda occupancy of the federal seat).
Mobilisation for 2027 PCC
As Deputy Director of Grassroots Engagement and Mobilisation, Akinola sits under Director Hon. Hafiz Ibrahim Kawu on a council chaired by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The brief is voter contact, ward structures, and translating national messaging into local action. His existing network—annual stakeholder meetings, ward-level distribution of welfare items, and the AKA Grassroots political group—gives him a ready platform in Oyo and a template that can be scaled. He has consistently urged party members to prioritise APC victory over personal ambition and to return to polling units.
His style is personal and recurrent rather than one-off: the same communities that receive JAMB forms or solar lights also see him at Eid, Christmas, fire scenes, and party meetings. Supporters describe him as a “tested and trusted” grassroots figure; critics of rotational claims note that the incumbent has his own large empowerment and infrastructure record. Akinola’s public line has been to praise existing representation while insisting fairness requires Ona-Ara to produce the next federal lawmaker—and to keep delivering projects regardless of ticket outcomes.
The 2027 PCC role therefore extends work he was already doing: convening people, funding visible local goods, and keeping APC structures active between election cycles. Whether that translates into wider mobilisation success will depend on execution across states, but the constituency record in Egbeda and Ona-Ara is documented, multi-year, and focused on education, light, water, and welfare.