By Clifford Ndujihe, Omeiza Ajayi, Ibrahim Hassan-Wuyo, Emmanuel Iheaka & Idris Salisu

AHEAD of today’s commencement of primaries beginning with House of Representatives, the  ruling All Progressives Congress, APC is navigating one of its most turbulent internal moments ahead of the 2027 polls over selection of candidates. Aspirants are squaring up against governors over 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.

Yilwatda’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.

Govs close ranks for Tinubu

Ahead of the primaries, the 31 APC governors have collectively endorsed a consensus arrangement for Tinubu’s return as the party’s presidential flagbearer. 

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.

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.

Nasarawa: Rigging before the primaries?

The contest in Nasarawa State has drawn particularly sharp accusations. Retired Inspector-General of Police Muhammed Adamu, who is in the governorship race, said Governor Abdullahi Sule’s endorsement of rival aspirant Senator Ahmed Wadada, was nothing more than personal preference.

“The governor is a human being, just like any other person, and he feels that he has a preferred candidate. So he has the right to do that. Just like you, maybe in Nasarawa State you don’t prefer Wadada, you prefer somebody like me. It’s also your choice. So we don’t take offence at all. All that we want is to appeal to the people in the state for them to give us support,” Adamu said.

His campaign team was less restrained. Speaking through the Chairman of Contact and Mobilization, Isah Nathaniel, Adamu’s camp accused the party leadership of a “coordinated scheme to pressure ward executives across the 147 wards of the state into endorsing a governor-preferred aspirant.” 

“Let it be clear: this is not party organisation; this is political manipulation in its crudest form. What is being disguised as coordination is, in truth, a brazen attempt to hijack the will of party members and impose a predetermined outcome,” Nathaniel declared.

The Nasarawa APC Integrity Forum went further, alleging that Senator Wadada and Governor Sule had been holding clandestine meetings and boasting about purported directives from President Tinubu and businessman Gilbert Chagoury to deliver Wadada’s victory at all cost.

“We are alarmed that the primary election is already being rigged before it is conducted. We call on Mr President, our national chairman and all men of conscience to rise against this aberration,” the Forum said in a statement signed by coordinator Zamani Daniel and secretary Ibrahim Tukur, calling for NWC officials to be drafted in to oversee the exercise.

The group said it knew Tinubu to be “a committed democrat who upholds the will of the majority” and appealed to him to intervene. “Democracy is a game of numbers. Anyone who thinks he is popular enough should market himself to the people. Let Nasarawa citizens and party members choose freely who is best for them,” the Forum added.

No consensus in Gombe — Pantami

In Gombe, former Minister of Communications Prof. Isa Pantami, who described the national screening exercise as “very transparent, very objective, very friendly,” pushed back sharply against reports of a consensus arrangement in his state.

“Since we were invited for screening and we have been screened here, it is an indication that at least the party at the national level has given each and every Nigerian a level playing ground,” he said, calling for independent management of direct primaries.

“This is crucial for the survival of the APC as a party and also for the survival of democracy in Nigeria,” he warned.

Tuggar’s eyebrow in Bauchi

In Bauchi, former Foreign Affairs minister, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar — on his third governorship attempt — raised an eyebrow over a sudden surge in form purchases the day before screening, saying it made you “wonder why or how,” and urged the party to distinguish genuine aspirants from those joining the race simply to later withdraw in favour of a preferred candidate.

“Any fraudulent or untoward practice is not entertained by the APC,” he said, adding that what mattered most was the integrity of the process itself.

Contempt for consensus in Kebbi

In Kebbi, Dr. Kabiru Sani Giant, a former adviser to the state governor, obtained forms to contest the Kebbi Central Senatorial seat against incumbent Senator Adamu Aliero, a former governor, and was direct about his contempt for consensus.

“Why should I go for consensus? When my people are waiting for me to go and queue for me to vote for me, then I will go for consensus? For what? What do they have to offer people? We are ready. We don’t want a consensus. With this direct primary, it is the people that vote for who they like and against who they don’t like. So we are ready to go for the primaries, and we are ready to face any challenge that is coming up,” Giant declared. 

Rumpus in Ondo

In Ondo State, stakeholders in the Ile-Oluji/Oke-Igbo/Odigbo Federal Constituency, led by Famakinwa Gbolahan and youth leader Akinlaja Oluwaseun, rose against what they described as a behind-the-scenes plot to install Hon. Mathew Oyerinmade — popularly known as MATO — in the House of Representatives race after a failed senatorial bid, with critics calling it a “consolation prize” dressed up as consensus.

Consensus move in Yobe

However, in Yobe State, retired IGP Usman Alkali Baba, who had initially joined five other aspirants in rejecting the emergence of Baba Malam Wali as consensus candidate, announced his withdrawal from the governorship race in a statement made available to journalists.

The NWC’s decision to dispatch election materials to all states ahead of the House of Representatives primaries — interpreted across the party as a green light for direct voting — reflected how untenable the consensus push had become.

A high-ranking source within the party’s administrative organ confirmed that the leadership chose flexibility over a full-scale internal crisis.

“Reports from many states reaching the NWC showed that our members and aspirants would rather subject their aspirations to an election than concede to consensus. Mindful of this demand, the NWC has directed that everybody should go to the field where aspirants and stakeholders cannot agree”, the source said. 

The House of Representatives primaries mark only the opening round of what promises to be a defining season of internal contests for the ruling party, culminating in the Presidential Primary scheduled for May 23.

There’ll be no imposition in Imo — Uzodimma 

In Imo, Governor Uzodimma said that he would not allow imposition of candidates.

Speaking during a stakeholders’ meeting of the APC at Government House Owerri, Thursday, Uzodimma insisted that every aspirant seeking elective office on the platform of the party stands an equal chance.

The governor, however, reaffirmed the relevance of the Imo Charter of Equity, stressing that zoning arrangements in various constituencies and zones would be respected during the process of choosing candidates for the party.

He urged aspirants to honour and respect existing agreements in their areas in order to preserve political balance and fairness.

According to him, while every party member is constitutionally qualified to contest for office, the APC must also protect its internal arrangements and political understandings which, he noted, have helped to sustain stability within the party across the state.

He noted that the APC would adopt the Option A4 system for its primaries, saying the method would guarantee transparency, credibility and wider participation of party members in the emergence of candidates for various elective positions. He revealed that no fewer than nine aspirants had purchased forms to contest for the three senatorial seats on the platform of the APC, while 107 others obtained forms to participate in the House of Assembly primaries.

An aspirant for House of Representatives seat, who does not want his name in print, said there would be implosion in the party, if candidates were imposed on the people.

The aspirant kicked against any consensus arrangements and expressed optimism with the Option A4 plan.

Members reject consensus in Zamfara

In Zamfara, APC members have rejected the consensus method of selecting candidates, describing it as a tool for manipulation by some party leaders for selfish interests.

Some aspirants affected by the recently concluded screening for State Assembly seats told Saturday Vanguard that the process was unfair and could cost the party victory in future elections.

One of the aggrieved aspirants, Hon. Sagir Mohammed Anka, who failed the screening exercise after purchasing nomination forms, alleged that the process was manipulated.

He advocated the adoption of the Option A4 system, which allows party members to openly choose candidates.

According to him, “The only way to produce genuine candidates is through Option A4 where party members decide who emerges.”

Also speaking, former Zamfara State House of Assembly member, Hon. Umar Mu’azu Maradun, said consensus arrangements imposed by governors and party leaders often create division within parties.

He urged the national leadership of the APC to end the practice, insisting that candidates should emerge through the will of party members.

Mu’azu cited the experiences under former governors Abdul’aziz Yari Abubakar and Bello Mohammed Matawalle, saying imposed candidates suffered defeat at the polls.

Protest in Kaduna

The protest by Yerima Shettima and Yusuf Ibrahim Zailani against the alleged consensus arrangement favouring Shehu Sani has exposed growing power tussles within the Kaduna State chapter of the APC.

At the centre of the controversy is the endorsement of Shehu Sani by APC stakeholders in Kaduna Central, including party leaders, commissioners and local government chairmen, who argue that his popularity, grassroots appeal and legislative experience make him the strongest candidate for the senatorial district.

However, Shettima and Zailani insist the move amounts to an attempt to impose a candidate before the party primaries. They are demanding direct primaries, describing them as the most transparent way of testing popularity and protecting internal democracy.

For Zailani’s camp, the disagreement is also tied to political survival and influence within the party. As a former Speaker of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, he is believed to command strong structures across parts of the state.

The dispute also highlights the strategic importance of Kaduna Central Senatorial District, regarded as a major political power base because of its urban influence and large voting population.

Governor Uba Sani recently set up a consensus and harmonisation committee to prevent the disagreement from degenerating into a full-blown party crisis.

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