— APC Moves Presidential Primary to May 23, Releases Revised Election Timetable
President Bola Tinubu has 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 and formally empowering them to drive the primaries process, a decision that has deepened anxiety among federal lawmakers and could trigger a high turnover in the National Assembly.
The President’s decision, made at a closed-door meeting with the extended leadership of the Senate at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday evening and reinforced at a separate meeting with APC governors on Thursday, was accompanied by the release of a revised primary timetable that sets Senate primaries for May 18, House of Representatives primaries for May 15, and the presidential primary for May 23, with sales of nomination forms commencing this Saturday, April 25.
The twin developments have sent shockwaves through the National Assembly, where several senators and House members whose relationships with their state governors have been strained now face the prospect of being denied return tickets by the very governors Tinubu has empowered to determine who gets the party’s nomination.
Multiple senior National Assembly sources familiar with Wednesday evening’s meeting said the senators went to the Presidential Villa specifically to press for Tinubu’s assurance that serving legislators would receive automatic return tickets.
The official sedans of Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas were spotted arriving at the Villa at minutes past 5pm on Wednesday, for a visit that was not on the President’s official schedule.
“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,” one source disclosed.
“They made a case for continuity and stability and argued for automatic tickets, but the President was very clear in his response. He 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 source added.
The plea was made against the backdrop of Tinubu’s earlier suggestion that he would “do everything within the party’s power” to ensure the return of serving legislators, a promise that had raised expectations across the National Assembly but which Wednesday’s meeting appeared to walk back significantly.
Senate Majority Leader Michael Opeyemi Bamidele confirmed the gathering in a post on his verified X account in the early hours of Thursday, describing it as a session that deliberated on “matters of urgent national importance.” He wrote that “far-reaching decisions were taken at this strategic meeting” but did not disclose specifics.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy Bayo Onanuga separately confirmed the meeting, describing it as a “consultation between Tinubu and the extended leadership of the Senate.”
Less than 24 hours after rebuffing the Senate leadership, Tinubu convened a second meeting, this time with APC governors, at which he formally ceded authority over the primaries process to the state executives.
The governors’ meeting, 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. In attendance were Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno, Hope Uzodimma of Imo, Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe, Hyacinth Alia of Benue, Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti, Peter Mbah of Enugu, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara, and others, with some states represented by deputy governors.
Niger State Governor Mohammed Bago, speaking to State House correspondents after the meeting, revealed the extent of the authority Tinubu had delegated.
“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,” Bago stated.
“He has reiterated his support for our decision, and he has given us a go-ahead,” Bago added.
Kwara Governor AbdulRazaq confirmed the development, stating that the process had been discussed to ensure “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.”
Tinubu’s position aligns with the stance taken days earlier by the APC National Chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, who stated categorically that automatic tickets are not part of the party’s ethos.
“There is no automatic ticket in our constitution. The party cannot promise an automatic ticket,” Yilwatda stated at a media chat in Abuja on April 17.
“The constitution of the party does not provide for automatic tickets, and the party cannot wishfully promise automatic ticket to anyone. The Electoral Act also does not provide for automatic ticket. It says all primaries must be either by consensus or by direct primaries,” the national chairman added.
