President Bola Tinubu has declined a request by Senate leadership to guarantee automatic party tickets for sitting federal lawmakers in the 2027 general elections. During a closed-door meeting with the extended Senate leadership at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday evening, Tinubu affirmed that state governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) would retain authority over candidate selection in their states. Senators, including Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Senate Majority Leader Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, had sought assurances for continuity, arguing for automatic nominations, but the President rejected the appeal. Bamidele later confirmed the meeting on his verified X account, describing it as a session on "matters of urgent national importance" following a closed Senate executive session.
Less than 24 hours later, Tinubu held a separate meeting with APC governors at the Presidential Villa, where he formally delegated the conduct of party primaries to them. The meeting, which began around 5pm at the Conference Room of the President's Office, was attended by governors including Babagana Zulum of Borno, Hope Uzodimma of Imo, Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe, Hyacinth Alia of Benue, Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti, Peter Mbah of Enugu, and AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara. Niger State Governor Mohammed Bago stated that Tinubu had "ceded his executive power to the governors to go ahead and conduct primaries based on the Electoral Act." AbdulRazaq confirmed that the party's timetable for primaries had been released, with Senate primaries set for May 18, 2026, and presidential primaries scheduled for May 23, 2026. The APC's Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Duro Meseko, announced revised screening and appeal committee dates during the 186th National Working Committee meeting on Thursday.
President Tinubu promised lawmakers he would do everything within the party's power to secure their return, yet handed full control of nominations to governors who may oppose them. This contradiction leaves senators like Akpabio and Bamidele vulnerable in states where their relationships with governors are already strained. The assurance of continuity rings hollow when the power to determine it lies with political rivals. For these lawmakers, the path to 2027 now depends less on presidential support than on reconciling with the very governors they may have clashed with.
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