APC tightens coordination as Tinubu leads consultations, adjusts primary timetable

 

• Tinubu meets party’s govs in closed-door session

• APC dismisses claims of restricted nomination forms

• Revises timetable, shifts presidential, governorship primaries

• Adopts direct, consensus modes for candidate selection

• Tinubu moves to redeploy second-term govs to Senate race

Fresh indications have emerged that President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) are tightening internal coordination through private consultations, adjusted primary schedules and strategic redeployment of governors ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Tinubu held a closed-door meeting with governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress at the State House, Abuja, yesterday.

The meeting, initially scheduled for 4:00 p.m. at the Council Chamber, began at about 5:00 p.m. after it was moved to the President’s Office Conference Room.

Governors in attendance included Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, Hope Uzodimma, alongside Inuwa Yahaya, Babagana Zulum, Hyacinth Alia, Biodun Oyebanji, Peter Mbah and AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, among others.

Some states were represented by their deputy governors.

As of the time of filing this report, the agenda of the meeting had not been officially disclosed.

The engagement took place less than 24 hours after the President met with the leadership of the Senate in another emergency closed-door session.

Although details remain limited, sources indicated that the meeting may be linked to ongoing political consultations ahead of forthcoming electoral processes.

This came as the APC dismissed allegations that it plans to restrict the sale of nomination forms to a select group of aspirants, maintaining that the process remains open ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Speaking after the party’s 186th National Working Committee meeting, Deputy National Publicity Secretary Durosinmi Meseko said all qualified members would have equal access to the forms. He was joined at the briefing by the party’s National Leader of Persons With Disabilities, Tolu Bankole.

Meseko described claims of hoarding forms as “baseless rumours”, adding that the party had approved a revised timetable in line with existing laws and the schedule of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

“Nomination forms for all aspirants seeking offices under the APC are open. There is no restriction whatsoever. Every qualified member of the party is free to obtain forms and participate in the process,” he said.

The party also adjusted key dates in its schedule, shifting the presidential primary election from May 15 and 16 to May 23, 2026. Governorship primaries will now be held on May 21, 2026.

Meseko said the changes reflect a revised timetable aligned with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), the Electoral Act 2026 and INEC’s schedule for the 2027 polls. He added that some processes, including the screening of aspirants and consideration of appeals, had been rescheduled.

According to the timetable, sale of nomination forms will run from Saturday, April 25 to Saturday, May 2, 2026, while submission of completed forms will close on Monday, May 4, 2026.

Screening of aspirants for State House of Assembly, House of Representatives, Senate and governorship positions is scheduled for May 6 to May 8, 2026, with presidential screening fixed for May 9. Publication of screening results will follow on May 11, while appeals will be heard from May 12 to May 13.

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Primary elections will begin with the House of Representatives on May 15, followed by the Senate on May 18 and the State House of Assembly on May 20. Governorship primaries are set for May 21, while the presidential primary will be held on May 23, 2026.

Post-primary appeals are scheduled between May 18 and May 25, depending on the category of election.

Meseko also announced a timetable for ward, local government and state congresses in Zamfara State, beginning April 28, 2026. Screening of ward executive aspirants will take place on April 29, followed by ward congresses on April 30, while appeals arising from the processes will be handled between May 1 and May 3.

He added that the party has adopted both direct and consensus modes of primaries, as provided in the Electoral Act, allowing members to choose their preferred method.

Tinubu urges second-term govs to contest Senate seats ahead of 2027 polls
MEANWHILE, in a strategic bid to avert betrayal and sustain loyalty and support for his re-election, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is reported to have enjoined state governors serving their second and final terms in office to contest the Senate seats of their constituencies in the forthcoming general election.

The Guardian learnt from an impeccable source that the move to conscript final-term governors into the senatorial contest is to ensure that they work collectively for the success of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the January 16, 2027, poll.

Recall that, in the election timetable released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the presidential ballot holds on the same January 16 as the National Assembly poll, comprising Senate and House of Representatives seats.

One of the outgoing governors confided in The Guardian that ordinarily he did not see himself aspiring to the Senate or any other electoral contest after his eight years as governor, stressing that “in party politics, certain things cannot be helped and you have to obey your leader.”

Dismissing insinuations that the overall intent was to ensure a pool of resources, the governor said that, rather than being a ploy to raise campaign funding, the idea of having governors run for the Senate is to make them active both during electioneering and in the election.

He stated, “A lot of things are involved during elections. Although I have never contested in a presidential election, I know that, just as in the governorship, if you are involved in the election, you cannot be everywhere. So, our leader wants it to be a collective responsibility for the party to win and win well.”

Out of the 19 northern states, only four governors are serving out their full constitutional terms by May 2027. While none of the governors in the voter-populated North West is in a second term, two are in the North Central states of Kwara and Nasarawa, even as only three out of the four second-term governors in the North East are in the APC.

Apart from Bauchi State, where the outgoing governor is grappling with the choice of whether to remain in the embattled Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), his colleagues in Adamawa, Borno, Gombe and Yobe are stalwarts of the ruling party.

If the reports of the presidential directive are anything to go by, the emerging scenario in Gombe would pitch former governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, who is seeking a second term in the Senate, against the Chairman of the North East Governors’ Forum, Inuwa Yahaya, who hails from the same Gombe North Senatorial Area.

Recall that during the 2015 Buhari tsunami that swept away most governors in their second-term races, Dankwambo survived but failed to return his preferred candidate, Senator Usman Nafada, as successor.

PDP chieftains alleged that Dankwambo sidelined Sardauna Gombe, Dr Jamil Isyaku Gwamna, who was the party’s popular choice, to create the senatorial vacancy for himself.

In the lead-up to the 2027 poll, Governor Yahaya, who is serving out his second term, could support Gwamna from the Gombe South Senatorial District for the governorship contest, while contesting the Gombe North Senatorial seat to battle Dankwambo and ensure that the APC retains the state.

The development explains the current disagreement between Governor Dapo Abiodun and Senator Gbenga Daniel over the Ogun East Senatorial ticket of the APC, even though it was the outgoing governor who rehabilitated OGD politically with the Senate seat after his estrangement from former governor Ibikunle Amosun.


Ardo  Zubairu , OSIG(London)
Editor -In- Chief, African Journalist Media Platforms.
National Secretary 
Renewed Hope: Tinubu Re- Election Project 2027 . Office Phones: 
08033305195
08098885195
07033454053

Follow this link to join  https://chat.whatsapp.com/GGyI5S8pxi78dcZ3fKciGB

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