President Bola Tinubu has handed the All Progressives Congress (APC) governors a marching order to deliver on party primaries, expressing thanks for their support while granting them full autonomy under the Electoral Act.
This was as he rebuffed lobbying efforts by the leadership of the Senate to secure automatic return tickets for the ruling party’s sitting legislators ahead of the 2027 general elections, instead reaffirming the authority of state governors over the selection of candidates in their respective states.
At a meeting with the state executives on Thursday evening, he formally empowered governors to drive the primaries process. This was after he earlier suggested to “do everything within the party’s power” to ensure the return of serving legislators, a promise that raised expectations in the National Assembly.
Our correspondents gathered that
The President made the decision at a closed-door meeting with the extended leadership of the Senate at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday evening.
An expanded leadership of the Senate had gone to Aso Villa on Wednesday evening specifically to press for Tinubu’s assurances, but the President “told them plainly that governors were the leaders of the party in their states and must have a say on who gets the ticket,” The Punch quoted a source as saying.
According to the source, “The meeting was to plead for automatic tickets for senators but President Tinubu insisted that the governor of each state has the influence over candidates.
“They made a case for continuity and stability and argued for automatic tickets, but the President was very clear in his response.”
The official Mercedes sedan of Senate President Godswill Akpabio was sighted at the Presidential Villa, with the motorcade of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, arriving at the Villa at minutes past 5pm on Wednesday.
Reports have it that the National Assembly leadership’s visit that was not on the President’s official schedule for the day.
Meanwhile, the Senate Majority Leader Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, in a post on his verified X account in the early hours of Thursday, confirmed the gathering, describing it as a session that deliberated on “matters of urgent national importance” following a resolution passed at a closed executive session of the Senate earlier that day.
“Far-reaching decisions were taken at this strategic meeting,” Bamidele wrote. Separately confirmed the meeting, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga described the parley as a consultation between Tinubu and “the extended leadership of the Senate.”
Less than 24 hours later, President Tinubu convened a second meeting, this time with APC governors. The meeting with the states’ chief executives initially scheduled for 4pm at the Council Chamber, began at approximately 5pm after the venue was moved to the Conference Room of the President’s Office.
Present were Prof. Babagana Zulum of Borno State, Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State, Hyacinth Alia of Benue State, Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State, Peter Mbah of Enugu State, and AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State, among others.
Some states were represented by their deputy governors. Niger State Governor, Mohammed Bago, who spoke to State House correspondents revealed that Tinubu had formally empowered governors to drive the primaries process.
Addressing state house correspondents, Bago said, “We came to thank the President for his magnanimity and his support to the governors and for our party, the APC.
“He gave us a matching order on what to do for him, he has given and ceded his executive power to the governors to go ahead and conduct primaries based on the Electoral Act, either a consensus or direct primaries.
“So he has reiterated his support for our decision, and he has given us a go ahead.”
Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq confirmed the development saying, “The timetable for the primaries has been released. We’ve discussed the process moving forward so that there will be free and fair elections, no rancour, at the end of the process, so the party comes out stronger, stronger than ever, heading towards the election.”
