How APC Govs. Pressurised  Tinubu, Yilwatda To Accept Primary Election Results

By Ayodele Oni

Indications have emerged that President Bola Tinubu and the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, may have yielded to pressure from the APC Governors’ Forum over the just-concluded National Assembly primary elections.

A reliable party source disclosed that President Tinubu had, allegedly, directed the national chairman to issue Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) nomination forms only to candidates agreed upon by both the party leadership and APC governors.

It was also gathered that the party’s national secretariat agreed to concede about 80 per cent of the National Assembly tickets in each state to the governors.

For instance, Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State was said to have secured two senatorial slots and six House of Representatives tickets, while all 26 State House of Assembly tickets in the state were conceded to him.

Some APC National Assembly aspirants, particularly serving senators and members of the House of Representatives, have accused governors of hijacking the party’s primary elections.

The senator representing Delta North, Ned Nwoko accused the party of betrayal after losing the APC senatorial ticket to former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, who was reportedly backed by  Delta State Governor,  Sheriff Oborevwori.

The APC National Working Committee (NWC) had repeatedly maintained that it has the final say on the party’s candidates.

However, it was learnt that the APC Governors’ Forum, which perceived moves by the NWC to alter the names of candidates it backed during the primaries, raised the matter with the President during the governors’ Sallah visit to Lagos.

The governors were also said to have convinced the President of the need to support their preferred candidates for the National Assembly tickets.

A source said: “Before the governors paid their Sallah visit to the President, about three governors, Prince Dapo Abiodu Lucky Aiyedatiwa and Prince Bassey Otu of Cross River State, had separately met with him on the same day.

“Abiodun personally presented the result sheet of the primary election that produced him as the party’s senatorial candidate for Ogun East.

He reportedly did this to secure the President’s endorsement and ensure that nobody tampered with the outcome.

“Aiyedatiwa was also said to have told the President of the need to change most of the National Assembly members in his state.

He argued that many of the serving lawmakers had become unpopular and that retaining them could affect the party’s performance in the 2027 presidential election.

“He has since been allowed to nominate two senatorial candidates and six House of Representatives candidates.”

Meanwhile, Senate President Godswill Akpabio has denied reports suggesting that he promised to secure senatorial tickets for lawmakers who lost out in the APC primaries.

It was further learnt that the Senate President may have made a U-turn after discovering that the President had eventually aligned with the position of the APC governors