APC ENDORSES TINUBU AS SOLE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FOR 2027

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By Oduola F.A.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has officially declared President Bola Tinubu as its sole presidential candidate for the 2027 elections.

This endorsement was made public by APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, during the party’s national summit held in Abuja on Thursday.

“As the chairman of the party and on behalf of the National Working Committee – the only recognised platform, I believe, legally, to field a candidate in any election – I hereby affirm the various endorsements and declare President Bola Tinubu as the sole presidential candidate of the APC,” Ganduje said at the event attended by APC governors, ministers and other political heavyweights of the ruling party.

Thursday’s event was to celebrate President Tinubu’s second anniversary in office, allowing members of the cabinet to showcase their achievements.

While Tinubu’s policies, including the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira – the nation’s currency – has been criticised for hurting Nigerians, the APC stalwart at the event said the president has done well and deserves a second and last term in office.

“If this president has done well, is it not we (National Assembly) that will say so? If he has not done well, is it not we who will give him notice of impeachment?

“We are not giving him notice of impeachment, we are giving him notice that it was difficult for you in 2023, but in 2027, I see everything turning around, the number of states that are coming to join you,” Senate President Godswill Akpabio said at the summit.

‘That is the Game’

The endorsement came as a divided opposition struggles to challenge the ruling. High-profile members of the opposition, including a governor, members of the National Assembly, among others, have defected to the APC.
However, at the event, Tinubu described the defections as part of the “game” and thanked the APC for endorsing him for a second term in office.

The summit coincided with the second anniversary of Tinubu’s presidency, and several cabinet ministers also spoke about their achievements since taking office.
Presidents in Nigeria can serve a maximum of two four-year terms.

Although Tinubu faces criticism that his policies have hurt Nigerians and that he has failed to end insecurity, including a long-running Islamist insurgency and banditry, the opposition is seen as too divided and weak to mount a serious challenge.

The opposition parties have also been hit by some high-profile defections to the APC. Tinubu said he expected more such defections, adding, “That is the game.”

He said, “I am glad of what we have, and I am expecting more. That is the game. We are in a constitutional democracy.”