AHEAD of today’s commencement of primaries, beginning with the House of Representatives, the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, is navigating one of its most turbulent internal moments over candidate selection ahead of the 2027 polls. Aspirants are squaring up against governors over the alleged imposition of consensus flagbearers.
With governors backing a consensus arrangement for President Bola Tinubu’s return ticket, aspirants across multiple states are resisting similar arrangements at the governorship and legislative levels. The development forced the party’s National Working Committee, NWC, to retreat from a blanket consensus push and dispatched materials for direct primaries.
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APC Chairman’s warning
Against this volatile backdrop, National Chairman of the party, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, issued a pointed warning to all aspirants: conduct yourselves well or face suspension.
“The leadership of the party would not tolerate any act capable of disrupting the smooth conduct of the primaries,” Yilwatda said through his Special Adviser on Media and Information Strategy, Abimbola Tooki.
He warned: “Any aspirant or supporter found instigating violence, sponsoring unrest, engaging in anti-party activities, or attempting to undermine the integrity of the process would face severe disciplinary measures, including immediate suspension from the party.”
Invoking what he described as the larger interest of party and nation, the chairman urged aspirants to display maturity and accept outcomes gracefully.
“In every democratic contest, only one person will eventually emerge victorious. What is important is the spirit with which the process is approached. I urge all aspirants to display maturity, patriotism, and good sportsmanship by embracing the outcome of the primaries in the overall interest of the party and our democracy,” he said.
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Ahead of the primaries, the 31 APC governors have collectively endorsed a consensus arrangement for Tinubu’s return as the party’s presidential flagbearer.
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Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum and Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, made the declaration in Abuja at the submission of the President’s nomination and expression of interest forms. “In furtherance of that resolution and in making sure it is implemented, we are here today with Mr President to submit his expression of interest form, showing that we are united and have reached a consensus in supporting Mr President to continue the good work he is doing,” Uzodimma said, describing the arrangement as a fulfilment of a resolution made at the APC Political Summit last year.
“On behalf of the governors elected on the platform of our Progressive Congress, from the 31 APC-controlled states out of the 36 states in Nigeria, we believe it is going to be a consensus,” he said, pledging that the governors would “work assiduously to market the policies and successes recorded by this administration” to secure the public mandate for a second term. Only one party chieftain, Stanley Osifo, has so far obtained forms to challenge Tinubu.
Fierce contests in states
At the state level, the picture is more contested
In Ogun, Senator Gbenga Daniel is poised for a battle with Governor Dapo Abiodun for the Ogun East senatorial ticket and has vehemently kicked against consensus.
Also Gboyega Isiaka wants to go the whole hog for the Ogun governorship ticket amid an avalanche of endorsements for Senator Olamilekan Adeola(Yayi) as consensus candidate.
In Enugu State, Governor, Peter Mbah, who praised the APC’s screening process as a model for Africa, suggested consensus remained the natural order in his state.
“In Enugu, we have always done things as brothers. We understand the value and significance of unity, and that is what we will continue to uphold,” he said.
Niger State Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, who disclosed that farmers across the state had contributed over 150 million naira to fund his nomination form — using 50 million for the purchase — said his state would first attempt consensus before falling back on direct primaries.
”We are trying to build consensus across the state, but where consensus cannot be built, then we’ll go for direct primaries,” he said.
Aspirants push back hard
Across several states, aspirants are having none of it, with many citing the Electoral Act as both shield and weapon against elite-driven arrangements.
Senate Majority Leader, Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, who played a central role in drafting the electoral law, stepped in to clarify the legal position, insisting that no candidate could be imposed under the consensus provision and that a single objection was sufficient to trigger full direct primaries.
“In any case there will always be primaries. Even where you have only one aspirant, there will still be primaries because for someone who has been endorsed by consensus, everybody will still go to the ward, everybody will still participate in the primaries because there will still be the need to do an endorsement — open endorsement at the ward level. So there’s nothing that can be done under the table whether you are doing direct primaries or you are doing consensus,” he said.
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Bamidele, who said no challenger had emerged from within his own Ekiti Central district, was careful to acknowledge that his experience was personal and not representative of statewide conditions.
“This does not mean that the same thing will happen in all the three districts in Ekiti. But again, in the event that anyone disagrees with a consensus arrangement, the law is that there must be primaries,” he said.
Former Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege, who submitted his forms ahead of senatorial primaries slated for May 18, declared a clear preference for direct primaries, describing his return to the Senate as essential to protecting the Tinubu administration’s economic reforms from a potentially hostile incoming legislature.
“We do not want a situation where in 2027 a new crop of members of the National Assembly will come in and begin to complicate or try to reverse some of those policies. We need adherent people who believe in those policies to be in the National Assembly to give support to Mr President,” he said.
In Rivers State, veteran APC chieftain and gubernatorial aspirant Tonye Patrick Cole was unambiguous, declaring that no consensus arrangement existed in the state.
“The consensus process in Rivers State does not exist. The only process that exists in Rivers State today is the direct primary. Consensus requires that all candidates come together, sit down, and come to an agreement as to who best represents the interests of the party in the state. That never happened, and that is why we are here. So, no consensus,” Cole said.
He dismissed suggestions that recently defected Governor Siminalayi Fubara posed any threat to his ambition.
“Governor Fubara competed under the PDP and now came into the APC, of which I competed when I was a leader of APC in Rivers State. So there is no threat. I am not less than him, he is not higher than me. He is not less than me. We are standing on equal pedestal, running for the competition. The best man will win,” he said.
