2027: Worries over APC congresses

•Defecting governors hard hit •Why Tinubu picked Yilwatda

AS permutations ahead of the 2027 general elections heighten, strong indications have emerged that palpable fear and tension have gripped the camp of the governors elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over the structure of the party in their states.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that the six months tenure extension granted the existing structures of the party across board at the last National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja penultimate week, was seen as a major setback for APC governors, who had hoped to take full control of the structures ahead of the 2026 primaries, which will usher in the next general election.

It was learnt that the governors, who recently joined the APC, are the worst hit by the president’s decision as they would not be in a position to influence either the gubernatorial or legislative Assembly primaries in 2027.

For instance, despite the posturing by party leaders in Delta and Akwa Ibom states, the defecting governors might be at the mercy of the existing APC structures when primaries are due in 2026, the source said.

The APC NEC, had on July 24, extended the tenure of the party structures from the wards to the national levels for six months just as the party’s organ unanimously approved the appointment of Professor Nentawe Yilwatda as replacement for Abdulahi Ganduje who resigned his position as national chairman.

An authoritative source close to the State House in Abuja confided in our correspondent thus: “The tenure extension plot was a personal initiative of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which came as a counter to the already laid out party takeover plot outlined by the governors.”

According to him, before the NEC meeting of July 24, there were already musings among the governors following the sudden resignation of the immediate past national chairman and the president was aware that they (APC governors) were unhappy over the development even though they publicly endorsed Ganduje’s resignation immediately it came to their knowledge.

The source added: “That NEC was a joy killer for the governors because they already had their plans when they failed to influence the choice of the person to replace Ganduje who is believed to have wrapped up a plot with them.

“A day prior to the NEC, the governors had met and prepared an agenda for the meeting so as to achieve their aim; and among the items on the agenda were the issues of e-registration and party congresses from the wards to the state and the zones.

“Surprisingly, all the governors were well equipped with their ward and state delegates, only awaiting NEC approval to adopt the agenda and give the go-ahead for the release of timetable for congresses and the national convention.

“But when the Chairman of the Progressives Governors’ Forum met the president and presented the proposal for the agenda for the NEC, the president overruled him and said the meeting had only one agenda and that was the issue of Ganduje’s replacement. The president was said to have further informed the PGF chair that he already had a replacement and he disclosed the identity.

“So for now, the situation is very dicey for the governors because that sudden action of Mr. President destabilised their earlier plot.”

It was further learnt that most of the governors are uncomfortable with many National Assembly members from their states and that they are plotting to replace them. “The governors’ frustration is compounded by uncertainty over Ganduje’s successor.”

Apart from this, the president’s action was also said to be a calculated attempt to remove the party from the grip of the governors, who had already perfected plans to install another former governor as a replacement for Umar Ganduje without any knowledge of the president.

The president, according to sources close to the Villa, was already uncomfortable with the moves by the progressive governors, who were said to be at loggerheads with some members of the National Assembly from their various states over the party’s ticket for the 2027 election.

The governors were said to be rooting for either the former governor of Nasarawa State, Umar Tanko-Almakura, or the ex-Plateau State governor, Joshua Dariye.

But close members of the president’s team reportedly warned against leaving the control of the party with the governors, saying this may work against his interests ahead of 2027 election.

The source told our correspondent that the office of the National Security Adviser had also generated a report on the implications of allowing the governors to take control of the party by nominating the new national chairman of the party.

Following the development, the president was said to have been advised to shop for a replacement without the input of the governors. It, therefore, emerged that the preferred candidate is not from the rank of former governors.

The nomination of Yilwatda was said to have followed clearance by the security networks after he was profiled as the former minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty reduction.

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