There appears to be a crisis brewing in the All Progressives Congress (APC) following attempts to present President Bola Tinubu as the consensus candidate of the party in the 2027 presidential election.........…
On Monday, an Edo-born politician, Osifo Stanley, ... publicly declared his intention to contest the party’s presidential primary against the incumbent, a development that is now seen to be a challenge to Tinubu’s re-election.
Stanley’s emergence comes weeks after the APC’s earlier ... national convention in March, where governors, National Assembly members and other party stakeholders adopted Tinubu as the sole candidate for the 2027 presidential election. State chapters, including Bauchi, Borno, Kebbi, Bayelsa, Cross River, Ekiti and Lagos, had subsequently endorsed Tinubu in quick succession, presenting what appeared to be a closed field.
During his interaction with newsmen in Abuja, the aspirant said he had already requested the party’s account details for the payment of the requisite fees, making clear that his declaration was not rhetorical but operational.
The Edo politician speaking on his intention to ... challenge the president said, “I believe strongly that we all have the right to enjoy our constitutionally-guaranteed rights to run,” he said, invoking both the APC constitution and the Electoral Act 2026 as amended.
He argued that no endorsement, however sweeping, could substitute for the formal process of a primary election. “There is no part of our party’s constitution that says when people have endorsed you, or when anyone has been endorsed, you automatically become the candidate of the party.
“There is no such law in our party’s Constitution. There is no such law in Nigeria that endorsement is a pathway to becoming the candidate. The party Constitution recognises that you can come out to run. INEC law also recognises that you can come out to run,” he said…....…
Speaking on his plans for Nigeria if he gets the ticket, Stanley pointed to the economy and security as the twin pillars of his agenda. “Our plan is to see how Nigeria can get out of lingering economic tension, metamorphose and set our priorities,” he said.
The aspirant explained that his priority areas will be the economy and security, which he said are the foundation upon which other developments are built.
Do you think the aspirant has the capacity to win President Tinubu if primaries were to be conducted in the APC? Do you support primary elections or consensus? Share your thoughts in the comment below…....…
